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JAKARTA
POST, 15 Juli 2013
As a prosperous country in Asia, Australia has become a
major destination for both forced and economic migration for almost a century.
For Australia, immigration has become the source of economic development as
well as contentious politics.
While economic migration is generally less contentious and lately accepted as part of globalization processes, the movement of forced and displaced people poses political and ethical problems for Australians as they could claim humanitarian protection under the 1951 refugee convention, which Australia has ratified.
A carefully crafted immigration policy combined with the highly developed surveillance technology has always been an important part of both domestic and international politics in Australia.
As a close neighbor with a population 10 times larger than Australia, Indonesia indeed posits a potential demographic threat for Australia. Such a perceived threat, however, has never materialized as political turmoil has never produced a wave of migration to other countries.
Australia-Indonesia relations concerning international migration, however, began to change in the last 10 years as Indonesia has become a major transit country for thousands of refugees, displaced people and economic migrants mostly from South Asia and the Middle East who are attempting to cross illegally to Australia.
It is estimated that 1,000 people have been killed in the Indian Ocean on their way to Australia. It is no secret that people smuggling and human trafficking practices are deeply involved in this tragedy.
Following the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York, the wars waged by the US against Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2002 have displaced the civilian population in these two Islamic countries.
While Iran and Pakistan, also Islamic countries, did not experience direct war with the US and its allies, they continue to be in a state of political instability that also forces people to migrate. Ethnic war in Sri Lanka that culminated in 2009 has pushed out the Tamils.
Many were stranded in Indonesia before moving to Australia. The current political instability in Egypt and Syria will further result in migration; many of them might also use Indonesia as a transit to Australia.
Political instability produces a displaced population that consists of a mixture of people with different reasons, while some are genuine refugees; many are just simply people who want to find better economic opportunities abroad. Those who qualify as refugees according to the 1951 refugee convention might have been a smaller proportion.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the agency that has a mandate to process and to provide refugee status. To be processed by the UNHCR, these displaced people mostly seek asylum in second countries.
The UNHCR will examine their application based on the evidence that they fled because of fear of political prosecution in their own country.
If they qualify as refugees they will get the refugee status and be entitled to be resettled in the countries that signed the 1951 refugee convention.
Australia and New Zealand are among some of the countries in Asia that are signatories of the 1951 refugee convention.
As Indonesia is not one of the signatory countries of the 1951 refugee convention it is not obliged to accept refugees. This is the current dilemma that Indonesia has to confront as thousands of people seeking asylum in Australia have been stranded in Indonesia.
The often diplomatic rifts between Indonesia and Australia concerning hundreds of people, who want to enter Australia, warrant a proper understanding from both sides on this apparently delicate political matter between these two close neighboring countries. Despite many differences in its social and political structure, Indonesia and Australia are two sovereign states destined to be geographically closed.
The geographic proximity between Indonesia and Australia should be wisely seen by leaders of the two countries as an opportunity rather than a problem. Good relations historically have been maintained since Indonesia declared its independence from the Dutch in 1945 in which Australia was among one of the first countries to show its important political support.
Looking from this historical perspective, the current problem of thousands of stranded international migrants facing Indonesia and Australia should also be wisely managed and should not jeopardize the good relations between Indonesia and Australia.
Among many bilateral agreements between Australia and Indonesia was the so-called Lombok Treaty of 2006. This treaty was a bilateral agreement between Indonesia and Australia to work together on a broad range of cross border non-traditional security issues. Among these were people smuggling and human trafficking. Indeed we need to put the often diplomatic rift between Indonesia and Australia into a proper perspective.
There are currently diplomatic negotiations under way in finding the best solution for the thousands of people that use Indonesia as their transit country on their way to Australia. In principle, both Indonesia and Australia have to share the international burden of burgeoning displaced people escaping from their war torn countries.
As President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is struggling to have an international standing, it is only logical that his government has to be more serious in contributing a solution to the international problem of displaced people.
An area in which Indonesia needs to improve is its weak immigration policy. Indonesia’s immigration border is too porous to prevent people from entering illegally. Learning how to handle immigration policy from Australia could be a good thing for Indonesia. ●
While economic migration is generally less contentious and lately accepted as part of globalization processes, the movement of forced and displaced people poses political and ethical problems for Australians as they could claim humanitarian protection under the 1951 refugee convention, which Australia has ratified.
A carefully crafted immigration policy combined with the highly developed surveillance technology has always been an important part of both domestic and international politics in Australia.
As a close neighbor with a population 10 times larger than Australia, Indonesia indeed posits a potential demographic threat for Australia. Such a perceived threat, however, has never materialized as political turmoil has never produced a wave of migration to other countries.
Australia-Indonesia relations concerning international migration, however, began to change in the last 10 years as Indonesia has become a major transit country for thousands of refugees, displaced people and economic migrants mostly from South Asia and the Middle East who are attempting to cross illegally to Australia.
It is estimated that 1,000 people have been killed in the Indian Ocean on their way to Australia. It is no secret that people smuggling and human trafficking practices are deeply involved in this tragedy.
Following the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York, the wars waged by the US against Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2002 have displaced the civilian population in these two Islamic countries.
While Iran and Pakistan, also Islamic countries, did not experience direct war with the US and its allies, they continue to be in a state of political instability that also forces people to migrate. Ethnic war in Sri Lanka that culminated in 2009 has pushed out the Tamils.
Many were stranded in Indonesia before moving to Australia. The current political instability in Egypt and Syria will further result in migration; many of them might also use Indonesia as a transit to Australia.
Political instability produces a displaced population that consists of a mixture of people with different reasons, while some are genuine refugees; many are just simply people who want to find better economic opportunities abroad. Those who qualify as refugees according to the 1951 refugee convention might have been a smaller proportion.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the agency that has a mandate to process and to provide refugee status. To be processed by the UNHCR, these displaced people mostly seek asylum in second countries.
The UNHCR will examine their application based on the evidence that they fled because of fear of political prosecution in their own country.
If they qualify as refugees they will get the refugee status and be entitled to be resettled in the countries that signed the 1951 refugee convention.
Australia and New Zealand are among some of the countries in Asia that are signatories of the 1951 refugee convention.
As Indonesia is not one of the signatory countries of the 1951 refugee convention it is not obliged to accept refugees. This is the current dilemma that Indonesia has to confront as thousands of people seeking asylum in Australia have been stranded in Indonesia.
The often diplomatic rifts between Indonesia and Australia concerning hundreds of people, who want to enter Australia, warrant a proper understanding from both sides on this apparently delicate political matter between these two close neighboring countries. Despite many differences in its social and political structure, Indonesia and Australia are two sovereign states destined to be geographically closed.
The geographic proximity between Indonesia and Australia should be wisely seen by leaders of the two countries as an opportunity rather than a problem. Good relations historically have been maintained since Indonesia declared its independence from the Dutch in 1945 in which Australia was among one of the first countries to show its important political support.
Looking from this historical perspective, the current problem of thousands of stranded international migrants facing Indonesia and Australia should also be wisely managed and should not jeopardize the good relations between Indonesia and Australia.
Among many bilateral agreements between Australia and Indonesia was the so-called Lombok Treaty of 2006. This treaty was a bilateral agreement between Indonesia and Australia to work together on a broad range of cross border non-traditional security issues. Among these were people smuggling and human trafficking. Indeed we need to put the often diplomatic rift between Indonesia and Australia into a proper perspective.
There are currently diplomatic negotiations under way in finding the best solution for the thousands of people that use Indonesia as their transit country on their way to Australia. In principle, both Indonesia and Australia have to share the international burden of burgeoning displaced people escaping from their war torn countries.
As President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is struggling to have an international standing, it is only logical that his government has to be more serious in contributing a solution to the international problem of displaced people.
An area in which Indonesia needs to improve is its weak immigration policy. Indonesia’s immigration border is too porous to prevent people from entering illegally. Learning how to handle immigration policy from Australia could be a good thing for Indonesia. ●
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