Australia’s new refugee ban raised with UN

JAKARTA has raised with the UN Australia’s new ban on accepting as refugees asylum-seekers who arrived in Indonesia since July 1.

JAKARTA officials have raised with the UN refugee agency Australia’s new ban on accepting as refugees asylum-seekers who arrived in Indonesia since July 1.

The Australian understands Indonesian government officials raised the issue with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees country representative Thomas Vargas during a meeting in Jakarta this week.

A source at the meeting said Mr Vargas responded that the agency was trying to find ­additional places in other countries for refugees — mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan — to be resettled from Indonesia.

In the first eight months of this year Australia took about 500 of the 528 refugees who ­resettled from Indonesia.

But Immigration Minister Scott Morrison announced on Tuesday the government would not accept for resettlement any asylum-seeker who registered in Indonesia after July 1 and would cut the allocation of refugee ­places from Indonesia from 600 people annually to 450.

He said the clampdown was intended to stop the flow of ­asylum-seekers into Indonesia, “taking the sugar off the table”.

Although the government’s refusal to allow asylum-seeker boats to land had since January dried up the traffic to Australia, Mr Morrison said people smugglers continued to bring asylum- seekers into Indonesia, with the prospect of obtaining Australian resettlement visas.

According to UNHCR, 10,507 refugees and asylum-seekers were registered in Indonesia at the end of October.

The Australian embargo on allowing boatpeople to arrive has slowed but not stopped movement of asylum-seekers into Indonesia, with the UN agency recording 3223 new ­asylum-seeker registrations in the year to August 31.

Mr Morrison yesterday did not confirm or deny the Australian government was discussing its new policy with UNHCR, saying only: “The government’s ­announcement only applies to Indonesia.

“The government remains committed to filling its annual quota of 13,750 places in our refugee and special humanitarian program, including 11,000 offshore places and is working with the UNHCR and other partners to achieve this outcome.”

UNHCR officials also said they were unable to confirm specific discussions with Australia about the new restriction.

Jakarta ministers and officials have refrained from publicly criticising the Abbott government but a Foreign Ministry spokesman warned that if the restriction on refugees ­adversely affected Indonesia “necessary measures” would be taken.

Additional reporting: Rosie Lewis