In the past year in Indonesia, almost 3000 asylum seekers have been stopped from heading to Australia, the Herald Sun said on March 23. The Australian government does not care what happens to these people, who are often detained in horrific conditions or deported back to unsafe countries.
More than 240 Tamil refugees, who fled persecution in Sri Lanka, are still refusing to leave their squalid boat in Merak, West Java, because they hold strong fears of a similar fate. Some Tamils have left the boat due to serious medical needs, including Manju, a woman who is due to give birth on April 5. Those who are unwell, and also children, are staying in hostels run by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM).
Some have disembarked temporarily for medical supplies and food, but faced harassment and violence from Indonesian police. Several men have been beaten or arrested. Tamil activist Sara Nathan told Green Left Weekly that Manju's brother was arrested when he tried to visit her.
"He went to see her with the permission of immigration, but he and another man got picked up, and are in detention. He was told that they'd release him in three days but now it's been more than 10 days."
The refugees remain in limbo. Nathan said that they were told two weeks ago by immigration officials at the dock that representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would be allowed to board. It was believed that refugee claims would be processed.
But nothing happened and Nathan said she was told: "The foreign affairs department was not even aware of that."
"There has been no solution given to them and no incentive. Everyone who has gotten off the boat is in Jakarta or has been beaten up."
The Working People's Association (PRP) in Indonesia has supported the Tamils' bid for refugee status and asylum in a safe third country since they were forced to dock in Merak in October. It offered humanitarian aid until the IOM and Indonesian immigration made the dock a restricted zone, and has since launched a solidarity campaign.
Mahendra Ignatius, chairperson of the PRP's department of international relations, spoke to GLW's Jay Fletcher about the campaign and conditions for refugees in Indonesia.
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The refugees at Merak were told immigration will allow UNHCR onto the boat to begin processing, but it hasn't happened yet. What are the conditions like at the moment?
We haven't been able to visit the boat since March 8. The last time we were actually allowed onboard was November 20. We cannot have face to face meetings because when we try plain-clothed police who patrol the boat immediately interrogate us. We talk to them over the phone and talk about their condition.
They are in a very bad condition — some had chicken pox and fever. The conditions are not proper for people to live: a small boat for 240 people, one toilet, heavy wind and rain, lack of health services. They are psychologically and physically harmed as well, some have been beaten by police and immigration and IOM officials scare them by saying they will be forced off the boat at gun point or even deported back to Sri Lanka.
Indonesia and Australia cooperate to stop refugees when they reach your country. How are refugee rights activists in Australia and Indonesia cooperating to fight this?
The Australian government pours millions of dollars into the Indonesian government so that Indonesia can be a big prison for every refugee that is going to Australia.
It is unjust because people have the right to move freely. The consequences are that asylum seekers will be imprisoned in Indonesia or deported back to their original country. This is serious and dangerous.
Most of the time, refugee issues will be taken up by human rights or refugee NGOs, but they don't criticise the government or build mass support.
We have organised joint statements with Socialist Alliance in Australia and the Socialist Party of Malaysia, and we've invited other organisations to sign it. Our three main demands are: "End the Indonesian solution", "Free the refugees" and "No detention of asylum seekers in Indonesia and Australia".
The PRP is participating especially in the campaign for the Tamil refugees in Merak by emphasising the need to build a solidarity campaign with mass support. Some of the more detailed demands are:
• the Indonesian government must immediately open access to human rights, welfare, and other groups to provide support to the people at Merak;
• immigration verification and UNHCR processing can begin without the refugees having to disembark;
• that the asylum seekers have legal assistance for immigration verification and processing;
• that there is independent supervision of disembarkation and on-shore accommodation conditions;
• that on-shore accommodation for the Merak people be open, not locked. It is the height of hypocrisy for the Australian government to pursue the "Indonesian solution" that allows conditions in Indonesia that would be unacceptable in Australia. Under the formal requirements of Australian refugee policy, families with children are not held in locked facilities;
• a guarantee that the people will be kept together;
• that the refugees are allowed to keep their mobile phones and the laptops that have been their lines of communication with the outside world;
• a guarantee that the refugees will not be returned to danger in Sri Lanka.
What are the conditions for asylum seekers in Indonesian detention centres?
They are like Indonesian prisons and refugees are treated like criminals. There is a serious lack of medical care and no future for children. Asylum seekers suffer physical and mental abuse, and the process of verification and resettlement could take years. The Indonesian and Australian governments, the IOM and UNHCR are all responsible for the suffering of these people.
Why are the laws to criminalise so-called people smugglers unjust? What does it mean for the people targeted by the law?
The people who actually crew the boats are often poor fishermen who, mostly because of their impoverished conditions, accept money to take asylum seekers to Australia.
This clearly shows that the two governments will just put the burden on poor people. They don't want to take responsibility. But it is a duty for a country that claims to uphold democracy and human rights to protect and help refugees and asylum seekers, not criminalise the poor people that help asylum seekers find safety.