Paras Indonesia, January, 25 2006 @ 06:54 am
Papuans Worthy Asylum Seekers?
By: Roy Tupai
Ever fearful of another East Timor-style secession scenario, Indonesia is warning
Australia that bilateral ties could suffer if Canberra grants asylum to a 43 Papuans
who fled the province earlier this month.
The 43 asylum seekers were found at a remote beach on Australia's Cape York
Peninsula on January 18 after sailing for five days in a 25-meter traditional boat. They
have accused the Indonesian military of conducting genocide against Papuans.
The Australian government initially held the 30 men, 6 women and 7 children in Weipa
and on January 20 put them on a seven-hour flight to Christmas Island, where they are
now being held in a detention center while their request is assessed.
Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Yuri Thamrin has denied the genocide allegation
and warned that Australia could face an influx of asylum seekers if grants the request.
"This has the potential to disturb relations between the two countries that have
recently become very tight," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"The new Indonesia is not a fertile ground for human rights abuses, especially
genocide," he added.
Thamrin said that if the Papuans were granted asylum, it would strengthen
perceptions within Indonesia that Australia supports or sympathizes with Papua's
separatist movement.
"We will not consider this as an ordinary immigration matter… I would like to
underscore the need to manage this issue very carefully in order not to jeopardize the
robust, positive and constructive bilateral relationship existing now between Australia
and Indonesia," he was quoted as saying by Japan's Kyodo news agency.
Ties between Canberra and Jakarta have often been strained and hit an all-time low in
1999 when Australia led a UN-sanctioned peacekeeping force into East Timor to stop
the military and its militia proxies from slaughtering civilians after the territory had
voted overwhelmingly to secede from Indonesia.
Relations between the two nations have since improved, partly due to joint operations
to combat terrorism and natural disasters. Australia has long reassured Jakarta that it
considers Papua part of Indonesia.
Human rights groups, refugee activists and Catholic church officials in Australia have
protested the decision to shift the Papuans to Christmas Island, arguing they should
be processed on the mainland.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Tuesday (24/1/06) defended the move.
"That's entirely appropriate. Their position will be assessed, they will be interviewed
and they will be dealt with in accordance with the law,” he said.
Rights groups, such as the Australia West Papua Association, have claimed the
asylum seekers' lives may be at risk if they are sent back to Indonesia. They further
claimed that families of the Papuans could be targeted in reprisal attacks by the
Indonesian military.
This concern was strengthened after security forces opened fire on civilians in Papua's
West Paniai regency last week, leaving one person dead and two others injured. The
fatality, Moses Douw (15), was said to be a close relative of one of the asylum
seekers.
About 200 Papuans on Monday demonstrated at the provincial parliament against the
shootings. They called for the formation of an independent team to investigate the
incident and demanded the dismissal of Trikora Regional Military Command chief
Major General George Toisutta.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander has said there's no evidence to suggest the
shootings were linked to the arrival of the asylum seekers.
'No Problem'
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono on Monday said he was certain the case of the
asylum seekers would not damage Indonesia-Australia ties.
"We don't need to exaggerate this problem because it has become a matter of human
rights," he was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal.
He said the government wants the 43 "Indonesian citizens” returned home as soon
as possible and is therefore discussing the matter with Australia's Foreign Ministry.
But he emphasized that the matter is in the hands of Australia's Immigration
Department. "The 43 citizens will be discussed one by one, to ascertain whether they
can be categorized as genuine asylum seekers or whether they will be returned," he
said.
Legislators on Tuesday urged the Foreign Ministry to take swift measures to resolve
the case so that it does not create an international problem for Indonesia.
Deputy chairman of parliament's Commission I on foreign affairs, Yusron Ihza, said
the case must not be allowed to become a form of propaganda that could make
Indonesia look bad.
He therefore urged the Australian government to respect Indonesia by not granting
asylum to the Papuans. He also expressed hope that Australian non-government
organizations would "not spread rumors” that would tarnish Indonesia's image
abroad.
"The Foreign Affairs Ministry must immediately resolve this. Don't let it continue,” he
was quoted as saying by detikcom.
National Resilience Institute governor Muladi has also warned the case could sour
Indonesia-Australia relations if not resolved appropriately.
Embassy Denies Contact
Thamrin said Indonesian diplomats in Australia were gathering information on the
identities of the 43 Papuans. "Our ambassador in Australia has established
coordination with the related institutions there," he was quoted as saying by state
news agency Antara.
The Indonesian Embassy in Canberra has denied trying to meet with the asylum
seekers and have them sent home. "I can guarantee that there has been no contact
whatsoever, it hadn't been requested, it was never even sought," the embassy's
second secretary, Dino Kusnadi, was quoted as saying Sunday by The Age
newspaper.
But the newspaper said the Australian Immigration Department confirmed that "a
junior delegation" from the embassy went to Weipa last Thursday to seek access to
the asylum seekers. By the time the delegation arrived, the Papuans had already
been put on the plane for Christmas Island.
Catholic Bishop Hilton Deakin on Tuesday expressed concern that Indonesian
authorities were "trying to get to" the asylum seekers.
"We know that already the Indonesian authorities, in Canberra and beyond, are trying
to get to them… The majority of these 43 people are… leaders for free expression and
self-determination and possible independence because of the oppression from which
they suffer. Massacres, rapes and all the rest of it have gone on in that country for
almost 30 years," he said.
He urged the Australian government to cancel its military training program with
Indonesia.
'Attention Seekers'
Ian Siagian, a Sydney resident who represents ex-president Megawati Sukarnoputri's
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, has dismissed the asylum seekers as
nothing but attention seekers.
He said the asylum request was an attempt by the outlawed Free Papua Organization
(OPM) to bring the Papua issue before the international community. "Thus, if
Indonesia is not careful to lobby the politicians abroad for the case, West Papua is
feared to have the same fate as East Timor," he was quoted as saying Monday by
state news agency Antara.
Protection Visas
Australia offers protection to asylum seekers if they are found to satisfy requirements
under a UN convention on refugees and relevant Australian laws.
Critics accuse Australia of seeking to deter asylum seekers who arrive illegally by
confining them for long periods in isolated detention centers. Australia argues that
such measures are necessary to prevent the country from being swamped by
refugees.
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