ID :
88306
Fri, 11/06/2009 - 20:15
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https://www.oananews.org//node/88306
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News Focus: GOVT EXTENDS STAY PERMIT OF 78 SRI LANKAN IMMIGRANTS
By Eliswan Azly
Jakarta, Nov 6 (ANTARA) - The stay permit of 78 Sri Lankan illegal immigrants on board the Australia-flagged "Oceanic Viking" which is currently anchored in waters near Cempedak island in Bintan district, Riau Islands province, was extended for one week.
The extension of their stay permit was actually an expression of the Indonesian government's understanding of the problems confronting the Australian government, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Teuku Feizasyah, said here on Friday.
"Kindheartedly, we grant an extension of their stay permit in the hope a solution will be found for the problem," he said.
Hopefully, Australia will be able to intensity their lobby and negotiations with the illegal immigrants and find a solution within a relatively short time.
"By doing so, next Friday Australia will have recorded a success in negotiating with them and finding the best way out," he said.
Faizasyah also called on the local community, officials of the provincial administration and relevant parties to exercise more patience in tolerating Sri Lankan immigrants' presence.
In the meantime, Dr Sofyan Siregar, a political analyst who is also a roving lecturer of the Islamic University of North Sumatra (UISU) said, Indonesian immigration officials in cooperation with Australia should forcibly move the illegal immigrants from their ship based on regulations prevailing in Indonesia.
In his opinion, those illegals will never meet the request of Indonesian immigration, even though the permission period had been extended until next Friday.
"As long as they are in Indonesian territory, and need food for their survival, the immigrants should meet the request of Indonesian immigration. If not, limited force can be used to move them just for their own safety and health," he said.
However, those illegals should be approached in another way before resorting to limited force. "It seems to me there is a gap in approaching them just because of communication constraints," Sofyan said.
The immigrants were reluctant to leave the ship because they were afraid of being detained and deported to their country. In this case, there was a problem on the part of immigration officials in making the Sri Lankans confident of Indonesia's good intentions, he said.
To convince them of Indonesia's good intentions, Sofyan said, there were some options that could be pursued. Firstly by allowing them to have their food in shelter camps, secondly by letting the women and children sleep and enjoy their food in the camps but they are allowed to provide the food for men on board or vice versa and thirdly by forcing them to stay at the camp.
In addition, it was also reported that the Australian government was continuing to urge the Sri Lankan immigrants to move to an immigration detention house already prepared for them.
"We do not interfere in the matter. It is an Australian government affair," Sujatmiko, the Indonesian foreign ministry's director for diplomatic security, said in Tanjungpinang on Wednesday.
He said what would happen with the Sri Lankan illegal immigrants was an issue of the Australian government, not of the Indonesian government.
The Indonesian government was only helping to deal with the illegal immigrants based on humanitarian considerations and to maintain good relations with Australia.
"But if these illegal immigrants are rejected (by Australia), the Indonesian government cannot do much," he said.
Meanwhile, the Illegal Immigrant handling Task Force formed by Indonesia's foreign affairs ministry was continuing to monitor the Sri Lankan immigrants' wishes and accommodate them where possible. "If at any time the Sri Lankan immigrants change their mind (agree to be moved to the immigration detention center in Riau Islands province), we are ready to help them," he said.
Sujatmiko admitted he had yet to receive information on the latest health conditions of the 78 Sri Lankan immigrants on board the Oceanic Viking because the Illegal Immigrants Handling Task Force was no longer monitoring developments related to the Sri Lankan immigrants' health.
"Why do we need to monitor their health, they do not want to live in Indonesia anyway. We also would not insist and force them to live here," he said.
He said that until Wednesday afternoon, there had been no discussion of recent developments in the Sri Lankan immigrants' case by representatives of the Australian and Sri Lankan governments.
In the meantime, the Riau Islands (Kepri) provincial government was reported to be still waiting for a central government directive on what action to take pertaining to the Australian ship carrying the Sri Lankan immigrants.
"We have not yet received further guidance from the central government. We need it before taking any action," Riau Islands Governor Ismeth Abdullah said in Batam on Wednesday.
He said the provincial government had rejected the immigrants arrival in Tanjungpinang because there was no presidential guidance.
"Due to the lack of central government guidance, we are very careful in taking any step. We don't want any unwanted thing to happen. We must also protect our citizens," he said.
According to the governor, the foreign affairs ministry had so far never coordinated with the regional government on how to handle the illegal immigrants problem.
"We even do not know whether an immigration detention center exists in Tanjungpinang. If it does, it was set up without notifying us," he said referring to earlier reports that Australia wanted the Sri Lankan immigrants on the ship to be moved to an immigration detention house in Tanjungpinang.
Ismeth said there was a tendency always to let regional governments bear the burden of caring for illegal immigrants.
For instance, when some Afghan immigrants arrived in Riau Islands territory not long ago, the local immigration office had to bear the financial cost of the aliens' living expenses, so it requested funds from the local government. ***4***
Jakarta, Nov 6 (ANTARA) - The stay permit of 78 Sri Lankan illegal immigrants on board the Australia-flagged "Oceanic Viking" which is currently anchored in waters near Cempedak island in Bintan district, Riau Islands province, was extended for one week.
The extension of their stay permit was actually an expression of the Indonesian government's understanding of the problems confronting the Australian government, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Teuku Feizasyah, said here on Friday.
"Kindheartedly, we grant an extension of their stay permit in the hope a solution will be found for the problem," he said.
Hopefully, Australia will be able to intensity their lobby and negotiations with the illegal immigrants and find a solution within a relatively short time.
"By doing so, next Friday Australia will have recorded a success in negotiating with them and finding the best way out," he said.
Faizasyah also called on the local community, officials of the provincial administration and relevant parties to exercise more patience in tolerating Sri Lankan immigrants' presence.
In the meantime, Dr Sofyan Siregar, a political analyst who is also a roving lecturer of the Islamic University of North Sumatra (UISU) said, Indonesian immigration officials in cooperation with Australia should forcibly move the illegal immigrants from their ship based on regulations prevailing in Indonesia.
In his opinion, those illegals will never meet the request of Indonesian immigration, even though the permission period had been extended until next Friday.
"As long as they are in Indonesian territory, and need food for their survival, the immigrants should meet the request of Indonesian immigration. If not, limited force can be used to move them just for their own safety and health," he said.
However, those illegals should be approached in another way before resorting to limited force. "It seems to me there is a gap in approaching them just because of communication constraints," Sofyan said.
The immigrants were reluctant to leave the ship because they were afraid of being detained and deported to their country. In this case, there was a problem on the part of immigration officials in making the Sri Lankans confident of Indonesia's good intentions, he said.
To convince them of Indonesia's good intentions, Sofyan said, there were some options that could be pursued. Firstly by allowing them to have their food in shelter camps, secondly by letting the women and children sleep and enjoy their food in the camps but they are allowed to provide the food for men on board or vice versa and thirdly by forcing them to stay at the camp.
In addition, it was also reported that the Australian government was continuing to urge the Sri Lankan immigrants to move to an immigration detention house already prepared for them.
"We do not interfere in the matter. It is an Australian government affair," Sujatmiko, the Indonesian foreign ministry's director for diplomatic security, said in Tanjungpinang on Wednesday.
He said what would happen with the Sri Lankan illegal immigrants was an issue of the Australian government, not of the Indonesian government.
The Indonesian government was only helping to deal with the illegal immigrants based on humanitarian considerations and to maintain good relations with Australia.
"But if these illegal immigrants are rejected (by Australia), the Indonesian government cannot do much," he said.
Meanwhile, the Illegal Immigrant handling Task Force formed by Indonesia's foreign affairs ministry was continuing to monitor the Sri Lankan immigrants' wishes and accommodate them where possible. "If at any time the Sri Lankan immigrants change their mind (agree to be moved to the immigration detention center in Riau Islands province), we are ready to help them," he said.
Sujatmiko admitted he had yet to receive information on the latest health conditions of the 78 Sri Lankan immigrants on board the Oceanic Viking because the Illegal Immigrants Handling Task Force was no longer monitoring developments related to the Sri Lankan immigrants' health.
"Why do we need to monitor their health, they do not want to live in Indonesia anyway. We also would not insist and force them to live here," he said.
He said that until Wednesday afternoon, there had been no discussion of recent developments in the Sri Lankan immigrants' case by representatives of the Australian and Sri Lankan governments.
In the meantime, the Riau Islands (Kepri) provincial government was reported to be still waiting for a central government directive on what action to take pertaining to the Australian ship carrying the Sri Lankan immigrants.
"We have not yet received further guidance from the central government. We need it before taking any action," Riau Islands Governor Ismeth Abdullah said in Batam on Wednesday.
He said the provincial government had rejected the immigrants arrival in Tanjungpinang because there was no presidential guidance.
"Due to the lack of central government guidance, we are very careful in taking any step. We don't want any unwanted thing to happen. We must also protect our citizens," he said.
According to the governor, the foreign affairs ministry had so far never coordinated with the regional government on how to handle the illegal immigrants problem.
"We even do not know whether an immigration detention center exists in Tanjungpinang. If it does, it was set up without notifying us," he said referring to earlier reports that Australia wanted the Sri Lankan immigrants on the ship to be moved to an immigration detention house in Tanjungpinang.
Ismeth said there was a tendency always to let regional governments bear the burden of caring for illegal immigrants.
For instance, when some Afghan immigrants arrived in Riau Islands territory not long ago, the local immigration office had to bear the financial cost of the aliens' living expenses, so it requested funds from the local government. ***4***
