Indonesia to Monitor Effects of Australia's Asylum Policy  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian government will monitor the impacts and implications of the Australian government's new policy to stop asylum seekers passing through Indonesia registered with the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) from resettling in Australia.

"If the impacts or implications are disadvantageous for Indonesia, we will take necessary measures to protect Indonesia's interest," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Tene.

Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, on Tuesday, November 18, 2014, said that asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR will not be included in Australia's Humanitarian Programme that will provide 13,750 places starting July 1, 2014. He said that the new regulation aims to stop the flow asylum seekers from Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan from coming to Indonesia.

"We're taking the sugar off the table," Morrison told ABC Radio on Wednesday, November 19, 2014. "People smugglers are smuggling people into Indonesia for the purpose of trying to get resettlement in Australia."

Because of the new policy, asylum seekers and refugees registered with the UNHCR will be stranded in Indonesia. According to Tene, asylum seeker and refugee problems can only be comprehensively solved if the sending, transit and destination countries are involved.

Tene said comprehensive steps include prevention, early detection and protection, especially for asylum seekers that are indeed facing problems in their country.

Based on UNHCR data, until October 2014, the number of asylum seekers in Indonesia had reached 6,202 people and refugees 4,305 people.

REUTERS | SMH | NATALIA SANTI