PM backs Jakarta on boat people
From AAP
AAP
07feb02
PRIME Minister John Howard understands Indonesian concerns about detaining illegal immigrants and supports the view that people smuggling is a regional problem.
Mr Howard said today a regional forum on trans-national crime to be co-hosted by Australia and Indonesia on the island of Bali in late February would form part of a comprehensive solution to people smuggling.
"It's not something, as some people erroneously suggest, that can be solved by some kind of bilateral arrangement between Australia and Indonesia," he told reporters here.
Mr Howard appeared at pains to suggest that he did not blame Jakarta for the arrival of illegal immigrants in Australia from Indonesia.
"The great bulk of illegal immigrants don't originate from Indonesia," he said.
Mr Howard arrived in Indonesia yesterday amid a political storm over his three-day visit in which parliamentarians claimed the Prime Minister accused Jakarta of being responsible for the problem of illegal immigration.
Mr Howard said he understood Jakarta's concerns about a solution he had proposed late last year in which a processing centre for asylum seekers would be established here.
"I'm also conscious of the difficult experience Indonesia had following a regional agreement about Vietnamese refugees some years ago which resulted in people being here for a period of some 15 years, much longer than had been originally contemplated," he said.
He was referring to the refugees who stayed at Galang Island, a case often cited by Jakarta to explain why the government did not want a processing centre here.
Last night Mr Howard announced Australia would donate five 8.5 metres police patrol boats to Indonesia to help the ill-resourced police force patrol the country's many islands for people smuggling activities.
Mr Howard said the flow of illegal immigrant arrivals had slowed over the past two to three months.
"I think one of the reasons is Australia is no longer seen as an easy country to come to - that's the basis of the deterrent policy we have taken," he said.
While the government's tough stance on refusing entry to boat people was not the only reason for the fall in numbers during the monsoon season, he said it was a "material factor".