Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited Australia over March 9-11. Unsurprisingly, the issue of asylum seekers was the leading concern for the federal Labor government, the corporate media and refugee advocates alike.
An identified "transit" country for people escaping war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Sri Lanka, Indonesia has become a focus point of the Australian government's anti-refugee agenda.
In Indonesia, 248 Tamil refugees remain in squalid conditions on a boat in Merak, West Java, wanting Australia's protection and afraid to disembark because of Indonesia's well-documented terrible treatment of asylum seekers.
On Yudhoyono's second day in Australia, the Tamils had been on the boat for 150 days. Their fishing vessel was intercepted by the Indonesian navy after Australian border patrols provided its location.
Australian refugee rights campaigners demanded that finding a solution for the Tamils needed to be the top priority of the bilateral talks.
But on March 10, he and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd instead announced that the two countries had decided to jointly crack down on "people smugglers". The framework included an agreement by Indonesia to impose a harsh mandatory five-year jail term on those convicted.
The March 11 Australian reported Yudhoyono said: "And to strengthen our legal instruments, the Indonesian government will soon introduce to parliament a law that will criminalise those involved in people-smuggling — those found guilty will be sent to prison for five years."
Radio Australia said the dame day that details of the framework would not be made public.
Australia's migration act already makes imprisonment of convicted "people smugglers" mandatory. At previous regional meetings, such as the Lombok Treaty and the Bali Process, Australia has pressured Indonesia to criminalise it as well. Immigration minister Chris Evans said, on the day of Yudhoyono's arrival: "We welcome their commitment to seek to legislate that this year."
Rudd's attitude to "people smugglers" — a misleading term referring to the people that aid refugees in their often perilous journey to Australia — is no secret.
Following the fatal explosion onboard a boat carrying Afghan asylum seekers in April last year, Rudd said: "People smugglers are engaged in the world's most evil trade and they should all rot in jail because they represent the absolute scum of the earth."
And the subsequent conviction and sentencing of the two impoverished Indonesian fisherman that crewed the SIEV36 boat carrying asylum seekers exposes the injustice of the law. However, it doesn't stop people fleeing persecution — even as the two governments announced their anti-refugee plans, the 21st boat for 2010 appeared off Ashmore Reef on March 10.
The president's visit also included an address to parliament and the award of an "honorary companion of the order of Australia". Yudhoyono and Rudd also published a joint article in the Fairfax press on March 9 called "Shared destinies of our nations".
The people of Indonesia have criticised Yudhoyono for his neoliberal policies and corruption. In a February 5 statement in solidarity with the Tamils refugees at Merak, the Working Peoples Association (PRP) said that five years of democracy and 100 days of Yudhoyono's "neoliberal regime" had failed to improve the welfare of the people and also "failed to handle the Tamil refugees' problems".
While putting on a diplomatic show, Rudd has been working hard to cement an Australian system of border control that includes a very blatant "Indonesian solution".
Australia has meanwhile poured money into boosting its presence in the whole region, and this has recently included more funding and power for ASIO to target asylum seekers.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported in May 2009 that the spy agency's budget was boosted to $304 million, which included $21 million for targeting people aiding the escape and travel of asylum seekers in their own countries, including Indonesia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.