Channel NewsAsia, 10 November 2003 1550 hrs
Asia Pacific News
Indonesia not to grant refuge to asylum-seekers turned away by
Australia
JAKARTA, : A boatload of asylum-seekers controversially turned away from Australia
will not be allowed to settle in Indonesia, top welfare minister Yusuf Kalla said.
"It (the case) has not yet been officially reported to us but our policy is not to
accommodate them," Kalla told reporters without elaborating.
The boat sailed into a storm of controversy when it arrived at Melville Island near the
northern Australian city of Darwin last Tuesday.
It was boarded by Australian defence force personnel and its engine was disabled
under a tough immigration policy adopted in 2001.
The government invoked extraordinary powers to remove Melville Island and some
4,000 others from Australia's migration zone, effectively making it impossible for the
Kurds to apply for asylum.
The move drew strong criticism from the United Nations, refugee groups and
opposition politicians.
Immigration minister Amanda Vanstone said Sunday that following talks with Jakarta
officials, the boat was escorted to the edge of Indonesian waters before making its
own way to the eastern island of Yamdena.
Police there said the asylum-seekers, believed to be Turkish Kurds, would be
transferred Tuesday to another Indonesian island to have their immigration claims
processed.
"They are currently under our custody but will be sent to Ambon by sea tomorrow,"
said Ahmad Yani, police chief in Saumlaki town on Yamdena. He said the 14 men
were reported to have landed on Saturday.
Yani told AFP police are also seeking two or three other people who had been on the
12-metre (39-foot) "Minasa Bone" -- believed to be the Indonesian crew.
The Minasa Bone was only the second vessel to reach Australian territory since the
2001 crackdown.
Indonesia was a centre for people-trafficking until the trade largely ceased, partly due
to Australia's tough new measures.
- AFP
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