Inside the Indonesian 'solution'

... in order to stop boats from coming, the Australian government need only to:

1. Install a controlled, robust and fair assessment and resettlement process direct from Indonesia to Australia (most logically through bolstering the capacity of the UNHCR); and
2. Slightly increase its resettlement intake, allowing swift durable solutions for individuals determined to be refugees under the Refugee Convention.

This sort of regionally cooperative approach, with adequate financial and logistical support from Australia is the only policy that can work in the long-term - along with always seeking to reduce the sort of conditions which turn people into refugees by forcing them to flee in the first place.

It is a constructive recommendation which definitely goes in the right direction, but I think it is a bit optimistic to suggest it "only".

requires these two steps. The number of displaced people in the South-East Asia region is very large and is likely to stay that way at least as long as the current Burmese regime remains in power. The current actions of the Sri Lankan government are also clearly contributing significantly to the problem at the moment.

It would require a bit more than a "slight" increase in Australia's refugee resettlement intake - which currently stands at 13500 for both refugee and other humanitarian entrants. Still, Australia's overall migration intake has been increasing rapidly in the last 10 years without a proportional increase in the humanitarian intake. Migration is likely to remain at or near current high levels for the next decade or more, so I believe there is room for a substantial increase in the total refugee intake - at least up to 20,000 per year.

Resettlement does cost the government money in the early years, although evidence shows that over time refugees provide a net revenue gain for the government as they move into the workforce. But funding UNHCR, IOM and the Indonesian government to warehouse refugees for years also costs money, with no productive benefit to anyone.

The debate still has a long way to run, but now that attention has been drawn to the poor conditions refugees are kept in using Australian government money, it is unlikely to subside until there are clear improvements. Hopefully, we may even see debate shift to practical and pragmatic solutions, rather than the over-reaction and fear which has dominated to date.