Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop yesterday defended Canberra’s controversial refugee policy during a trip to key transit nation Indonesia, after Jakarta pressed for more help for people waiting for resettlement.
Asylum seekers have long been a flashpoint between the two nations, with large numbers who are seeking to reach Australia by boat ending up stranded in Indonesia instead. The flow of would-be refugees arriving in Australia has largely dried up after Canberra in 2013 introduced a tough policy of turning back vessels when it is safe to do so.
However, Indonesia has been riled by the policy that has seen an increasing number of asylum-seeker boats pushed back to its shores, with the Indonesian government saying it is struggling to shelter large numbers of migrants.
Bishop said Canberra is already doing a lot, after Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi had urged other nations in the region to do more.
“Australia is sharing the burden and will be looking to other countries in our region to do similar,” Bishop said at the start of a three-day visit to Indonesia, adding that Canberra took a “significant number” under the refugee humanitarian visa and had committed to taking thousands of Syrian refugees.
Bishop also said that she expected Indonesia would be asking all nations to solve what is a “regional problem,” and not just pointing to Australia, when Marsudi co-chairs an upcoming people-smuggling conference in Bali.
Bishop and Marsudi are to chair the Bali Process, a regional forum set up to tackle people-smuggling, on the resort island tomorrow. They held private talks yesterday.
“Of course, there is hope from Indonesia, not only to Australia, but to every country to be more receptive to these migrants who have been waiting for resettlement,” Marsudi said in an interview with Fairfax Media.
Indonesia is not party to the UN Convention on Refugees, which means it is under no obligation to protect refugees, unlike Australia.
Ties between Indonesia and Australia have been strained in recent years by Canberra’s immigration policies, allegations of espionage and Jakarta’s execution last year of Australian drug traffickers.
However, the relationship has improved in recent times, particularly since Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull took office in September last year.
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