Inside the Indonesian 'solution'

Figures from Australia's Immigration Department indicate the following resettlement numbers from Indonesia over recent years:

• 2008-2009: 35 people;
• 2007-2008: 89 people;
• 2006-2007: 32 people.

In the report, Ms Taylor states that:

... the Australian government and the asylum seekers are agreed on one thing: trying to reach Australia by boat is not a good idea. To my surprise, more than 90% of people we met in Indonesia had not come with the intention of getting on a boat. The prospect of the long, dangerous journey is the last thing that most families want to face.

Instead, we gleaned the impression that people came to Indonesia to be processed by UNHCR and resettled. They are willing to wait for this to happen. However, when weeks stretch to months and months stretch to years, with no apparent action from UNHCR or IOM, the boat option begins to look more attractive. It is because of delays in processing and failure to resettle genuine refugees that Australia has seen an increase in boat arrivals in recent times.

She goes on to say:

... if the asylum seekers could see a genuine movement in the process, and feel like their claims were being properly considered, and if they were allowed access to decent services (particularly simple schooling for their children), it seems that the number of boat arrivals would drop off drastically. One thing is for certain: nobody happily makes the decision to make the ocean journey - they are driven to do so by the lack of any other viable option presenting itself.

A positive aspect of the report is that it seeks to provide a solution, not just document problems.

The two step solution proposed in the report states that: