ID :
46456
Thu, 02/19/2009 - 18:26
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/46456
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RI, A'LIA TO SUBMIT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CASES TO BALI PROCESS
Brisbane, Feb. 19 (ANTARA) - Indonesia and Australia have agreed to bring up recent illegal immigrant and human trafficking cases at the Bali Process Forum -- a ministerial level meeting to discuss instances of the two trans-national crimes.
The Bali Process Forum would be held in April this year, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said in a joint press conference with his Indonesian counterpart Nur Hassan Wirajuda after a bilateral meeting between the two ministers in Sydney on Thursday.
A senior officials meeting would be held in Brisbane next week prior to the Bali Process Forum.
In the bilateral meeting, both ministers discussed human trafficking issues and the Rohingya refugees.
Minister Wirajuda said the human trafficking issue was not merely a bilateral problem of Indonesia as a transit country and Australia as the destination country of illegal immigrants, but an international issue which involved the originating, transit, and destination countries.
He also mentioned the arrival of nearly 400 Rohingya Muslims in Aceh Province, describing it as "a new phenomena being faced by Indonesia."
"Indonesia has provided them with shelter, food, and health services. Around 51 of them were admitted to local hospitals," he said.
Aceh Province has received nearly 400 Rohingya refugees. Some 193 Rohingya boat people got stranded in Sabang, Aceh on January 7, 2008, and another 198 Rohingyas reached the coast of East Aceh after 21 days at sea, with some of them in critical condition on February 3, 2008.
The Rohingya Muslims had initially arrived in Thailand from Myanmar, but the Thai authorities put them in nine wooden boats measuring 14x3 meters and herded them toward the open seas.
After floating for 21 days in the sea with only a few kilograms of rice and one gallon of water, only two boats arrived in Aceh Province, while the whereabouts of the seven other boats were not known.
The Bali Process Forum would be held in April this year, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said in a joint press conference with his Indonesian counterpart Nur Hassan Wirajuda after a bilateral meeting between the two ministers in Sydney on Thursday.
A senior officials meeting would be held in Brisbane next week prior to the Bali Process Forum.
In the bilateral meeting, both ministers discussed human trafficking issues and the Rohingya refugees.
Minister Wirajuda said the human trafficking issue was not merely a bilateral problem of Indonesia as a transit country and Australia as the destination country of illegal immigrants, but an international issue which involved the originating, transit, and destination countries.
He also mentioned the arrival of nearly 400 Rohingya Muslims in Aceh Province, describing it as "a new phenomena being faced by Indonesia."
"Indonesia has provided them with shelter, food, and health services. Around 51 of them were admitted to local hospitals," he said.
Aceh Province has received nearly 400 Rohingya refugees. Some 193 Rohingya boat people got stranded in Sabang, Aceh on January 7, 2008, and another 198 Rohingyas reached the coast of East Aceh after 21 days at sea, with some of them in critical condition on February 3, 2008.
The Rohingya Muslims had initially arrived in Thailand from Myanmar, but the Thai authorities put them in nine wooden boats measuring 14x3 meters and herded them toward the open seas.
After floating for 21 days in the sea with only a few kilograms of rice and one gallon of water, only two boats arrived in Aceh Province, while the whereabouts of the seven other boats were not known.
