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Lawmaker lambasts Luhut for offering islet to Oz for refugees
Several asylum seekers from Afghanistan protest at their immigration detention house in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Oct
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Several asylum seekers from Afghanistan protest at their immigration detention house in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Oct. 22. They demanded that the Indonesian government accelerate their move to a third country and provide sufficient health care. (Antara/Yohanes Kurnia Irawan) (Antara/Yohanes Kurnia Irawan)
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span class="inline inline-center">Several asylum seekers from Afghanistan protest at their immigration detention house in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Oct. 22. They demanded that the Indonesian government accelerate their move to a third country and provide sufficient health care. (Antara/Yohanes Kurnia Irawan)
A lawmaker has emphatically opposed an idea put forward by Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan to provide an island to accommodate refugees heading to Australia.
Mahfudz Siddiq, head of House of Representatives Commission 1 overseeing foreign and security affairs, said on Friday that the idea would create a new problem for Indonesia.
"Offering an island as a temporary shelter for migrants would not solve the issues in Australia and instead cause problems for Indonesia," he said as quoted by state news agency Antara.
Luhut told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that during his visit to Canberra earlier this week, the government offered Australia the possibility of using an island to accommodate asylum seekers coming through the archipelago to reach Australia. Still, Luhut said the proposal came with strict requirements including full financing from Australia and a limited period for the arrangement.
Mahfudz said Australia only wanted to make other countries their buffers from the waves of asylum seekers searching for a new life there.
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician urged the government to be firm with Australia to prevent Indonesia becoming a transit country for its asylum seekers.
"By closing the transit door, Indonesia would lower the potential for issues," he said, adding that it would not interfere with bilateral relations between the two countries.
Located strategically in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is affected by refugees entering its waters to get through to Australia. Thousands of refugees have been reported as stranded in the archipelago after their boats capsized or were sent back by the Australian Navy.
There are 7,666 asylum seekers and 5,739 refugees in Indonesia according to data from the Indonesia's office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
There has been a growing number of people seeking refuge in Australia, with Australian government statistics showing that more than 18,000 people arrived in the country between 2012 and 2013, a surge from the 7,300 people that arrived between 2011 and 2012, following rising conflict in the Middle East. (rin)
