The Age, February 25, 2006 - 7:54AM
Indonesia to press on Papuans' return
Indonesia is expected to press Foreign Minister Alexander Downer for consular
access to 43 Papuan asylum seekers when he visits Jakarta next week to discuss
clemency for the Bali Nine and counter-terrorism.
Indonesia's chief foreign spokesman Yuri Thamrin repeated that the Papuans would
be welcomed to return to Indonesia.
He said that supporters of the group or Australian parliamentarians would also be
welcome to visit them to verify they have not been persecuted.
"We are open to consider sympathetically the possibility of supporters,
parliamentarians to come to Indonesia in order to verify that there is no persecution at
all," said Mr Thamrin, who also heads a section within the ministry which deals with
Australia.
Mr Downer and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty arrive in Jakarta
on Monday for a counter-terrorism conference to be opened by Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Prior to making a keynote address to the conference, Mr Downer will have a breakfast
meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda.
Indonesian foreign ministry officials said while no agenda had been agreed, Wirayuda
expected Mr Downer to raise the issue of clemency for Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew
Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who have been condemned to death.
The asylum claims of the Papuans would also likely come up, Mr Thamrin said.
Indonesia has challenged the Australian government to prove the group, whose
asylum claims are being assessed on Christmas Island, are really fleeing
persecution.
The Papuans, who included pro-independence activists and their families, arrived in
northern Australia last month after a five-day voyage in an outrigger canoe.
Their leader Herman Wainggai says they fear they may be killed if returned to Papua,
where separatists have been waging a low-level insurgency for decades.
Mr Thamrin said Australia must give Indonesia consular access to the group under UN
conventions and warned a briefing given to Indonesian officials by Australian
immigration officers on the asylum claims process was not enough.
"It's a legitimate right of a sovereign country to have access to meet their citizens," he
said.
He backed a suggestion by Papuan MPs from Merauke to visit the group and
reinforce a promise by Mr Yudhoyono to Prime Minister John Howard that the group
would not be harmed if they were returned.
"This is a really good idea," Mr Thamrin told AAP.
"The parliamentarians (want to) explain to the Papuans ... they are not the target of
persecutions.
"I would like to really underscore that no persecution will be directed against our
brothers."
Mr Thamrin said appeals launched by the Bali Nine would be dealt with according to
the law, which was aimed at ridding the country of a serious and growing drug
problem.
Indonesia's police chief said this week that an estimated 3.2 million Indonesians, or
1.5 per cent of the population, use illegal drugs.
"What is important is that we need a certain due process of law, a credible process, a
transparent process, whose outcome is believable," Mr Thamrin said.
"We believe we have followed that path."
Mr Downer will be keynote speaker on Monday at a conference hosted by the
Indonesian Crime Prevention Foundation focusing on suicide bombings.
© 2006 AAP
Copyright © 2004. The Age Company Ltd.
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