Surabaya, East Java (Antara) - An NGO called the Indonesian Civil Society Networking for the Protection of Refugees' Rights (Suaka) said it supported the Indonesian government for taking a firm stance against the Australian government's boat turn-back policy. "We agree with the statement of Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa that Australia's policy violates the human rights of asylum seekers," Suaka co-chair Muhammad Hafiz said recently. He said turning back refugees and asylum seekers to Indonesia was against the international law. The Indonesian foreign minister's statement has demonstrated that Indonesia is playing a leading role in protecting the human rights of asylum seekers and refugees. The program manager for the UN-OIC Advocacy of the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) said the Indonesian stance, which focused on finding regional solution was important and showed its commitment to the Bali Process on people smuggling, human trafficking, related trans-national crimes and to the Jakarta Declaration on irregular movement of people. He urged the Indonesian government to help fight for the basic rights of asylum seekers and refugees, rather than abandoning them without hope and means of survival. "It is unfortunate that Australia's public opinion on asylum seekers has been affected over the last few years. They consider those trying to reach the Australian coasts as a threat to national security," he noted. Currently, around 10,000 foreign asylum seekers and refugees who want to go to Australia are in Indonesia, he said, adding that Suaka appreciated UNHCR Indonesia for its efforts to find a long-term solution for them. Recently, the United Nations refugee agency had asked Australia to prove it was not breaching the Refugee Convention with its policy of turning back boats filled with asylum seekers. (*)

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Editor : Slamet Hadi Purnomo


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