A BOATLOAD of asylum seekers at the centre of a standoff between Australia and Indonesia will be taken to Christmas Island. While Indonesian authorities “review Australias request that the passengers - believed to number more than 50 - be taken to Indonesia, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison ended the stalemate today.“In the best interests of the safety of the passengers and crew ... earlier this morning I requested (the) transfer (of) the persons rescued to Christmas Island for rapid onward transfer to Manus Island or Nauru, Mr Morrison said in a statement.They will not be resettled in Australia, he said.Australian authorities responded to a distress call from the wooden boat on Thursday, finding it about 43 nautical miles south of Java inside Indonesias search and rescue zone. But requests to take the passengers to Indonesia were refused by local authorities, sparking a standoff which lasted more than 24 hours. “On two recent occasions, Indonesia has agreed to these requests and facilitated an on-water transfer, Mr Morrison said.“The Indonesian government has advised Australian officials overnight that they are reviewing the request put forward by Australia.A spokesman for Djoko Suyanto, Indonesia’s Co-Ordinating Minister for Legal, Political and Security Affairs, said Jakarta was reluctant to accept them because the boat had been in working order when first approached by Australian navy vessel HMAS Ballarat.“From what Ive been told, the boat was fine and they were not in danger. If thats the case, then we reject it, Agus Barnas, deputy at Mr Suyanto’s department, said yesterday.“We dont want Indonesia to be a dumping ground, but we dont want Australia to accuse us of not doing anything. We want to respect Australia.“At least for the time being we will not accept them.Mr Morrison said Australia would continue to liaise with Indonesia on a case-by-case basis and that the request was made on this occasion because of the boats close proximity to the Indonesian coast.The row over the would-be-refugees comes as tensions between the two countries have been under pressure over a spying controversy following a report that Australian missions across Asia, including the one in Jakarta, were involved in a US-led spying network.The allegations of espionage prompted Indonesia to summon the Australian ambassador, while Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa declared enough is enough - See more at:
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 04:56:28 +0000
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