Inside the Indonesian 'solution'

It also states that

... families are generally housed in more appropriate accommodation, when there are women and babies. However, there are many 13 to 17-year-old children in adult jails, slipping through the cracks because they are alone and do not have parents or siblings to look out for them.

Equally problematic, from the point of view of the effectiveness of the policy behind Australia funding these measures, as well as from a general human rights perspective, the processing time for asylum claims is slow and unclear.

Detainees are to be processed by UNHCR, which is hugely under-resourced and overworked. Consequently, processing often takes many months. It is not uncommon for people to wait 24 to 36 months between their initial registration and their refugee status determination. Delays depend on a number of factors, including geographical location of the applicant (for example in Jakarta, applicants have fairly easy access to UNHCR, but in the remote centres, access is more difficult, and delays are often prolonged).

People routinely wait for many months to be registered and interviewed by UNHCR. It may take another 12-18 months after interview to receive a determination. Positive findings of refugee status are meaningless in the current context, as there is no prospect of third country resettlement. Refusals are often given without reasons, either written or oral, despite UNHCR guidelines to the contrary.

The report quotes figures from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) that there are currently around 2000 asylum seekers and refugees currently being held in prisons, detention centres and compounds across Indonesia. The cost for the upkeep for these people is funded by the Australian government in an effort to try to prevent or discourage them from trying to reach Australia by boat.

UNHCR figures indicate that there are 2,107 people registered with UNHCR (as at October 26, 2009).