[Kabar-indonesia] Howard vows no back down on controversial immigration law

[Joyo at aol.com]

also: Australia and Indonesia close to prisoner transfer 
agreement: Ruddock

Australian PM vows no back down on controversial
immigration law

SYDNEY, August 6 (AFP) -- Australian Prime Minister
John Howard said Sunday he would not back down on
plans to process refugees in remote Pacific island
camps, despite backbench unrest over his new
immigration law.

Several of Howard's own lawmakers are opposed to the
legislation, which is seen as an attempt to ease
Indonesian concerns over Papuan separatists seeking
asylum in Australia.

Backbench unrest has already delayed the law and
forced Howard to make concessions.

Howard said Sunday the legislation would be debated
next week when
parliament returns from its winter recess, and added
there would be no more changes.

"It remains the government's policy to go ahead with
the bill in the form, including the amendments, that I
announced before the parliament broke for the winter,"
he told Ten Network television.

The government has proposed toughening its immigration
laws so that asylum-seekers who arrive in mainland
Australia by boat would be sent to detention centers
on the islands of Nauru and Manus in Papua New Guinea
while their claims are processed.

Even those found to be genuine refugees could be
refused asylum in Australia and sent instead to other
countries.

Currently only refugees who arrive on outlying islands
are processed offshore.

Facing defeat on the legislation, Howard agreed in
June to guarantee women and children better conditions
in offshore centers, to detain children only as a last
resort, and allow oversight by an ombudsman.

The bill is seen as an effort to discourage further
Papuan separatists from seeking asylum in Australia.

Canberra's decision to grant 42 Papuans temporary
protection earlier this year prompted a bitter
diplomatic rift with Jakarta, which temporarily
withdrew its ambassador.

Indonesia won sovereignty over Papua, formerly a Dutch
colony, in 1969 after a referendum widely seen as a
sham. Papuans have long accused Indonesia's military
of violating human rights in the province.

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Australia and Indonesia close to prisoner transfer
agreement: Ruddock

SYDNEY, August 6 (AFP) -- Australia expects to sign a
prisoner transfer agreement with Indonesia next month,
the government said Sunday.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said officials would
travel to Jakarta in the next few days to discuss
remaining points of disagreement.

Ruddock said he wanted to be in a position to sign a
deal when Indonesian Law and Human Rights Minister
Hamid Awaludin visits Australia next month.

"We have narrowed the areas of disagreement," Ruddock
told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television.

He said Canberra and Jakarta still had to agree how
much time prisoners should serve in the country they
were sentenced before being eligible for transfer to a
jail in their home nation.

Ruddock said an agreement would not automatically
benefit convicted Australian drug smuggler Shapelle
Corby, who was sentenced last year to 20 years in an
Indonesian prison after four kilograms (nine pounds)
of marijuana was found in her luggage at Bali airport.

Ruddock said he believed Corby, whose case is closely
watched by the Australian media, was considering a
further appeal against her sentence and so may not be
eligible for an exchange.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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