Indonesia looks for a Nauru of its own

radioaustralia.com

Now Australia's government has announced that the country will not take any asylum seekers who have arrived in Indonesia after 1 July this year, even those who have been cleared and given refugee status by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"We're taking the sugar off the table, that's what we're doing," said Immigration Minister Scott Morrison during a recent interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "We're trying to stop people thinking that it's okay to come into Indonesia and use that as a waiting ground to get to Australia."

In response, the Indonesian government has begun looking into solutions. Justice and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly has briefed Indonesian President Joko Widodo on a plan to send asylum seekers to an isolated island.

"Now we have started thinking again about this policy," Yasonna told The Australian on Wednesday. "We only need to find the island."

Yasonna met last week with Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, Greg Moriarty, and reportedly raised serious concerns about Australia's policy shift. Yasonna stressed that the island plan was made necessary by Australia's unexpected shift in policy.

"We ask Australia to think about a cooperative policy because this is not only their problem," he remarked to The Australian. "Australia suddenly, unilaterally, closed [its door] but this problem is impacting on us."

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