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Minister Concedes People Smuggling is Delicate Issue

Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro admitted on Monday that the Indonesian government often found itself in a difficult position when handling asylum seekers using Indonesia as a transit point while attempting to reach Australia.

Speaking at a news conference after a closed meeting with his Australian counterpart, John Faulkner, at the ministry in Jakarta, Purnomo said that while entering a country without the correct permits was illegal, many tried in the hope of finding a better life.

“Humanitarian questions must be taken into account in illegal immigrant cases. They [immigrants] are human too. This is a dilemma for us,” Purnomo said.

However, he said the government had decided to establish better coordination between relevant departments to handle the problem, with the Foreign Affairs Ministry leading efforts.

“The Defense Ministry and the Navy will be tasked with preventing immigrants from entering our territory,” he said.

“Once they have entered our territory, then it is no longer our job, but [will be handled by] customs and the Justice and Human Rights Ministry.”

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s government is reportedly under pressure from the opposition to reduce the number of refugees arriving in Australian waters by boat.

Australia has asked the Indonesian government to treat the control of the transit of asylum seekers across the archipelago with some urgency.

Rudd met with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week in Jakarta to discuss the issue, with Bloomberg reporting Indonesian officials as saying that diplomats aim to draft an agreement on tackling people smuggling before the two leaders meet in Singapore next month at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

Brig. Gen. Syaiful Anwar, director of internal cooperation at the Defense Ministry, said the Indonesian and Australian defense departments were working on the establishment of a new memorandum of understanding between the two neighboring countries.

He said the MoU would cover plans of action between the two nations regarding the Lombok Treaty, a security agreement signed in 2006, and the people-smuggling issue.

“Next week, there will be a special meeting to discuss the people-smuggling matter. We’ll see whether there will be a new MoU or just talks between the two governments,” Syaiful said.

During the closed meeting, Faulkner was accompanied by Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Bill Farmer.

Besides the illegal immigrant issue, Purnomo said the meeting also broached other topics.

The topics included strategies to enhance cooperation in the field of defense.

One suggestion was to begin exchange programs between officers from the armed forces of both countries, Purnomo said.

Purnomo, the former energy and mineral resources minister, added that his Australian counterpart was eager to support Indonesia’s newly established National Defense University.

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