Jakarta (dpa) – Indonesia and Australia on Monday agreed to take more steps to curb people smuggling and the influx of undocumented migrants. Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd met in Jakarta to discuss the issue less than a month after 90 people were killed and about 100 went missing after a boat carrying 250 Australia-bound migrants sank off Java island. “We had agreed just now to share information on the flow of such smuggled people so we can take more steps to disrupt the continuation of such activities,” Natalegawa said. “We will work hand in hand with countries of origin and Australia as a destination country to tackle the issue,” he said. Rudd said Indonesia and Australia were committed to making it harder for people smugglers to operate. “No one underestimates the difficulty of this,” Rudd said. “It is a very demanding challenge not just for the two governments but also for countries around the world.” In 2002, Indonesia and Australia initiated a regional framework called the Bali Process to tackle large influxes of asylum seekers and to combat human trafficking. Indonesia has long been a transit point for migrants from the Middle East and Asia seeking better lives in third countries, including Australia. Some have died in accidents as they embarked on dangerous journeys in rickety boats, often with the help of human traffickers. The latest disaster has put pressure on the Australian government to find a way to process asylum seekers offshore instead of detaining them before deciding on whether they should be granted asylum. A deal between Australia and Malaysia in which 800 boat people detained in Australia were to be swapped for 4,000 UN-certified refugees in Malaysia was scuppered after a legal challenge from the Australian opposition against the deportations. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/Ugi9R Tags: Australia, Indonesia, Refugees Section: East Asia, Human Rights, Latest News, Oceana
