Much has been made of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese\u2019s visit to Indonesia, but one thing has been conspicuously missing from suggested issues to be discussed with Indonesian President Prabowo, refugees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On election night, Anthony Albanese repeated his claim that no-one would be left behind by Labor. But refugees in Indonesia are one group that the Labor government that have been left out of consideration by the Albanese government since it was first elected in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe ban on accepting refugees from Indonesia put in place by the Morrison government in 2014 must be lifted,\u201d said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around 13,700 refugees are being warehoused in Indonesia\u00a0in deteriorating circumstances. With Trump blocking refugee resettlements to the US (with the exception of white South Africans, it seems) the situation has become even more critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this year, UNHCR told refugees there was no prospect of resettlement and faced with a future with no education prospects for their children and rudimentary medical support, some families were forced to return to Afghanistan!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The International Organisation of Migration (IOM) is funded by the Australian government to maintain the refugee camps scattered across Indonesia, but those funds have declined in real terms. But refugees, denied the right to work, are forced to live in poverty on a pittance that has not been increased since 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asylum seekers who have arrived in Indonesia since 2018 are denied any support at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia\u2019s use of turnbacks to deny asylum seekers access to Australia and the warehousing of asylum seekers and refugees in Indonesia is a violation of their human rights and Australia\u2019s international obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Albanese government must act to increase the support for refugees in Indonesia and act to provide a pathway for permanent settlement for refugees stranded in Indonesia since 2012,\u201d said Rintoul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indonesian human rights organisations will present a letter of concern to the Australian embassy in Jakarta during Albanese\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Much has been made of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese\u2019s visit to Indonesia, but one thing has been conspicuously missing from suggested issues to be discussed with Indonesian President Prabowo, refugees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311091,"featured_media":16714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-16847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-press-releases","tag-indonesia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t