INDONESIA PLAYING KEY ROLE IN STOPPING ARRIVALS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CANBERRA 000945 NOFORN SIPDIS STATE FOR PRM AND SA E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/21/2019 TAGS: SMIG PREF ELAB ECON AS SUBJECT: INDONESIA PLAYING KEY ROLE IN STOPPING ARRIVALS REF: CANBERRA 934 Classified By: Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs Edgard D. K agan: Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C/NF) Summary: The series of recent high-profile cases of ship-borne asylum seekers trying to come to Australia is putting pressure on Prime Minister Rudd to depend on Indonesia's continued cooperation to help staunch the flow. Australia is also working with Malaysia, which they believe is an important transit point, and Sri Lanka, which is the main source of recent asylum seekers. PM Rudd successfully raised these issues with his Malaysian and Indonesian counterparts on the margins of President Yudhoyono's inauguration. While Yudhoyono has agreed to accept 78 asylum seekers intercepted October 18 between the two countries, defusing the recent stand off between Australia and Indonesia, the government will have to manage the issue carefully to ensure it does not become a liability in the next election or Australia's campaign for a UN Security Council seat. End Summary. DFAT confident of cooperation -------------- ¶2. (C/NF) Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's (DFAT) People Smuggling, Refugees and Immigration Director Sonya Koppe emphasized that recent Indonesian interdictions of asylum-carrying vessels are not occasional occurrences. The Indonesians are regularly stopping the movement of undocumented refugees from their ports. This cooperation grew out of bilateral agreements stretching back to the 2002 Bali Process and 2006 Lombok Treaty, which emphasized security cooperation between Australian and Indonesian police, customs, and military. Since September 2008, Indonesia has disrupted 81 smuggling ventures, and these interdictions by Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka have prevented at least 1,237 people from reaching Australia. Koppe said Prime Minister Rudd and President Yudhoyono are frequently on the phone and the asylum crisis is becoming a frequent topic of conversation as the numbers of refugees from conflict areas around the world increases. Towards a new framework -------------- ¶3. (C/NF)) Australia plans to provide significantly more funding to Indonesia for pursuit of asylum seeker boats, detention centers, deportations, and intelligence sharing. PM Rudd met with President Yudhoyono October 20 to introduce Australian ideas toward the formulation of a fixed security framework and division of responsibilities for ship-borne asylum seeker interdictions between Indonesia and Australia under the Lombok Treaty's provisions. Senior officials in both countries will be discussing this framework in meetings over the next few weeks. ¶4. (C/NF) President Yudhoyono's agreement to accept the most recent 78 asylum seekers picked up by an Australian Customs vessel in international waters that fall within Indonesia's search and rescue zone suggests Indonesian acceptance that a state's responsibility for the search and rescue area at sea determines its responsibility for the asylum seekers involved. This does not alter the legal responsibility of the closest vessel in the area to come to the aid of ships in distress, but it does affect the port where they will be brought for processing. Processing Refugees -------------- Q -------------- ¶5. (C/NF) Department of Immigration and Citizenship's (DIAC) South East Asia and Bali Process Director Robert Johnston told us that although Indonesia is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention, it does not allow the return of asylum seekers who fear persecution in their homeland, and it is actively partnering with UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to resettle asylum seekers who enter its territories in the various signatory states. ¶6. (C/NF) DIAC is funding IOM to help house and deal with CANBERRA 00000945 002 OF 002 Indonesian detainees. If UNHCR finds them to be bona fide refugees, they are put in the pool of refugees looking for a state willing to take them. Of that number, Australia accepts approximately a third. The asylum process can be drawn out, and refugees with fully recognized status can linger in IOM operated facilities for long periods. ¶7. (C/NF) DIAC's Johnston explained that once Indonesian-held asylum seekers are determined to be non-refugees, they have two choices - if willing, IOM (with DIAC funding) will repatriate them; if unwilling to return to their point of origin, they, at least, for a while become part of the Indonesian population, provided they have no criminal record. Indonesia does not have legislation that forces migrants to return to their home countries and many of these people start looking for smugglers almost immediately. ¶8. (C/NF) All asylum seekers arriving in Australian monitored waters are processed on Christmas Island for health, security, and character status. If that facility becomes too crowded, those who have been screened for health and security, but not yet received their UNHCR refugee bona fides, will be moved to mainland detention centers to make room for new arrivals. Mainland centers usually provide for airport arrivals without proper documentation. Australian processing times have to be under 90-days by statute. Incentives to Indonesia? -------------- ¶9. (C/NF ) As the Australian-Indonesian talks on asylum seekers continues, the local and international press is hammering the Australian Immigration and Home Affairs Ministers on what Indonesia is getting for their cooperation. DFAT and the ministers will not give figures to the press and they repeat the mantra that helping Indonesia deal with asylum seekers financially has a long history and had a growth spurt during the Howard government. DFAT insists that Indonesia is acting as an equal partner and that has internationally positive consequences for the Yudhoyono government; however, money is flowing to UNHCR and IOM operations in Indonesia, and any increase in Indonesian naval and air surveillance of their sea area increases costs and Australia will have to help foot the bill. Australia counting on Indonesia -------------- ¶10. (C/NF) Comment: Rudd is putting a lot of faith in Indonesia to stop the flow of boats, rather than toughening immigration laws as the previous government did. This is partially related to the unprecedented strong relationship between the two countries. But Yudhoyono will not be in power indefinitely and cooperation has had its ups and downs over the years. Rudd's high popularity has not been affected by the surge of boats, but this could change if the policy proves unsuccessful. End Comment. CLUNE