[Kabar-indonesia] 8 Reports: Howard to SBY: Let's Get Over It [+Age: Scorning Those in Need]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

8 reports: 

- The Australian: Howard to SBY: 
  Let's All Get Over It

- SMH Analysis: PM's letter on 
  Bashir almost scuttled talks

- AFR: Rapprochement tops 
  the agenda

- The Age: No action on Bashir, 
  but goodwill returns

- The Age: Scorning Those in Need
  [John Howard is callously prepared 
  to use the plight of desperate people 
  in political games]

- Herald-Sun: Ice-breaker on the beach

- The Australian: Breaking the ice 
  with sports shoe diplomacy

- The Age: Rousing tune when piano 
  players meet in whorehouse

The Australian
Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Howard to SBY: Let's All Get Over It

by Dennis Shanahan, Political editor 

JOHN Howard has turned his first visit to Indonesia since relations plunged 
to a seven-year low into a combination of high-profile personal co-operation 
and gradual development of wider Australian-Indonesian relations on aid, 
investment and security.

The Prime Minister declared on the island of Batam yesterday that for too 
long there had been "too much navel gazing" over the differences and challenges 
in the nations' relationship and not enough concentration on common principles. 

"My message to the President is very much, 'Let us move on from recent 
challenges'," he said, in reference to the rupture in relations after Australia's 
decision to grant asylum to 42 Papuan boatpeople and the early release from jail 
of terrorist leader Abu Bakar Bashir. 

Speaking after an hour-long meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang 
Yudhoyono on the resort island of Batam, Mr Howard said there was no point 
denying the challenges in the relations between Canberra and Jakarta but said "we 
share a common future". 

Both leaders praised each other and said they understood and respected their 
counterpart's internal political processes and judicial systems, while 
recognising court decisions had led to the rupture of relations in March. 

Dr Yudhoyono described the talks as "friendly, neighbourly, productive and 
constructive", and Mr Howard said the talks were friendly and direct. 

The talks covered $1 billion in aid distribution to Indonesia and set a 
timetable for a new defence security pact to be signed by the end of the year. 

Despite pressing Australia's concerns about the early release of Bashir, Mr 
Howard said Australia did respect the Indonesian legal system and took comfort 
from the President's pledge to take "pre-emptive action" where necessary 
against terrorism. 

Dr Yudhoyono replied that the decision to release Bashir, the spiritual head 
of terror organisation Jemaah Islamiah, early did not "detract from or weaken 
our commitment to fighting terrorism", and that his Government had to observe 
legal processes, democratic values and human rights when fighting terror. 

On the sore point of Papua, Mr Howard reassured Dr Yudhoyono that the 
granting of refugee status did not represent any support for separatist movements, 
saying the Australian Government also had to respect its court system. 

"Australia does not support separatism and secessionist movements in 
Indonesia," Mr Howard told a joint press conference. "My Government does not wish to 
see Australia become a staging point for any such activities. It's been clear 
for years we recognise and support Indonesian sovereignty over Papua." 

Dr Yudhoyono welcomed Mr Howard's reassurance on Papua and said the 
controversial issue of immigration law changes to process asylum-seekers offshore was 
an internal matter for Australia. 

Mr Howard said the relationship between Australia and Indonesia was vital to 
both countries and would require "constant care" and early intervention by 
leaders whenever a crisis loomed. 

At an unscheduled meeting on the beach at Batam early yesterday as both 
leaders exercised, Dr Yudhoyono and Mr Howard embraced and shared jokes and banter 
in a public display of mutual warmth. 

"He and I are very good friends," Mr Howard said. "Nothing that has happened 
over the last few months has altered that warm personal regard I have for him, 
nor do I believe it has in any way reduced the warm, personal regard he has 
for me. He's a very likeable bloke." 

Mr Howard flies to China today for trade talks.

-----------------------------------------

The Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Analysis

PM's letter on Bashir almost scuttled talks

Mark Forbes Herald Correspondent in Batam

IT WAS not quite a kiss and make up, but warm greetings during the
remarkably coincidental meeting during yesterday's morning walks of
the Prime Minister, John Howard, and the Indonesian President, Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono, marked the symbolic end to an acrimonious
four-month rift.

Later they emerged from a formal summit proclaiming it was time for
Australia and Indonesia to be good neighbours again. Their statements
acknowledged that geography and common interests inextricably bind
both nations.

That the summit was nearly cancelled, and failed to produce a joint
declaration endorsing a new security treaty, demonstrates a fragility
born of cultural misunderstandings, sensitivities over East Timor's
independence, and domestic mistrust.

Most significantly, it shows that the need of both leaders to play to
their national audiences can extract a heavy cost on their
relationship.

Although Mr Howard's failure to pass tough asylum laws in response to
the visas granted to 42 Papuans did not help, it was his public demand
for Dr Yudhoyono to take tougher action against Abu Bakar Bashir,
following the firebrand cleric's release from jail, that nearly
scuttled yesterday's reconciliation.

Senior Indonesian figures said Mr Howard's stance was seen as
patronising and hectoring.

In a series of crisis meetings on Friday night, Dr Yudhoyono was
persuaded that postponing the summit would exacerbate the rift.
Although he took the Papuan decision badly, following his personal
guarantee to Mr Howard of the asylum seekers' safety, he remains
committed to strengthening ties in the longer term.

A fortnight ago Dr Yudhoyono's office was talking optimistically of
signing a new security treaty with Mr Howard in Batam. At the very
least, a joint declaration committing to the treaty being signed this
year and "comprehensive co-operation" would be made, his advisers
said.

Bashir's release, after being convicted for endorsing the 2002 Bali
bombing, may have hit a raw nerve in Australia, but Mr Howard's
hectoring letter hit an even rawer nerve in Jakarta. Sources close to
Dr Yudhoyono emphasised that he had to deal with the hardline
nationalists who wield great influence in Indonesian society.

Although Bashir is not a widely popular figure, a country that battled
for independence following World War II does not take kindly to being
dictated to by outsiders.

Bashir importance is now largely symbolic, as he moves Jemaah
Islamiah's push to transform Indonesia into an Islamic state onto
another battlefront, using campaigns against pornography and loose
morality as a vehicle to introduce Islamic law. This is a contest Dr
Yudhoyono must confront carefully; he cannot be seen to be doing so at
the behest of the West.

Mr Howard said relations had "undeniably" been strained. "Historically
and culturally and ethnically we are not a natural fit, but we are
thrown together by history and geography and a shared commitment to
fight terrorism," he said.

Of Dr Yudhoyono, he added: "We have always got along very well
together and nothing that's happened in the past few months has
altered the warm personal regard I have for him - nor do I believe it
reduced the warm personal regard he has for me."

----------------------------------------

Australian Financial Review
Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Rapprochement tops the agenda

Morgan Mellish, Batam

Prime Minister John Howard and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono have held what they described as friendly and constructive
talks on the island of Batam in a bid to restore the fractured
relations between the two countries.

The meeting was their first since a diplomatic crisis over Australia
granting asylum to a group of Papuans. The meeting covered the Papuan
refugees, the release of hardline Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir and
the problems in East Timor.

Before the meeting, Mr Howard conceded relations with Indonesia were
strained but said the two countries still had a lot in common and he
still got on well personally with Mr Yudhoyono.

"My message to the President is very much let us move on from recent
challenges," Mr Howard said. "Let's not allow them to stand in the way
of what is a fundamentally important relationship to both countries."

During the meeting, it was agreed that the foreign ministers of the
two countries would finalise a new security pact by the end of the
year. Afterwards, Mr Yudhoyono referred to Mr Howard as his "good
friend" and described the talks as constructive. The Indonesian
President said they had been preceded by an "intense correspondence"
between the two leaders in a bid to heal the rift.

Mr Yudhoyono welcomed Australia's assurances that it did not support
separatism in Papua.

He said of Bashir that he had been charged and prosecuted and had
served his time in jail and Indonesia now had to respect its existing
laws and his human rights.

"We discussed the issues with a spirit of good neighbourliless,
co-operation and mutual respect," he said.

Canberra earned Jakarta's wrath earlier this year when it granted
asylum to 42 West Papuans who had fled their province claiming
persecution by the Indonesian military. The decision sent relations
between the two countries to their lowest level since Australia's
involvement in East Timor's independence in 1999.

Mr Howard has repeatedly reiterated that his government does not
support independence for West Papua. However, many senior Indonesians
have in recent months openly claimed that the visa decision showed
Australia secretly supported independence for their country's
eastern-most province.

"We're not interested in, as a government or as a country, separating
Papua from Indonesia," Mr Howard, who is on his 12th visit to
Indonesia, said.

Relations between the two countries were further strained by the
release earlier this month of Mr Bashir after he'd served just 26
months in prison for giving his blessing to the 2002 Bali bombing that
killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Two weeks ago, Mr Howard wrote to Mr Yudhoyono expressing Australia's
anger at the release of the spiritual leader of South-East Asian
terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah and noting that the United Nations
Security Council had listed the cleric as a terrorist and that he was
subject to an assets freeze, restricted travel and a ban on accessing
arms.

Mr Yudhoyono wrote back saying Indonesia had done everything it could
to prosecute Mr Bashir.

"What has happened is he [Mr Yudhoyono] has said the law of Indonesia
applies in relation to Abu Bakar Bashir in the way I have said the law
of Australia applies in relation to the 43 asylum seekers," Mr Howard
said. "We are learning to understand the importance of mutual respect
for the legal process of the two countries and that really is at the
heart over the dispute over Papua."

Despite the tensions, the two leaders - who unexpectedly bumped into
each other before the meeting during early morning strolls - have
forged a close relationship in recent years.

"He and I are very good friends," Mr Howard said. "Nothing that's
happened over the past few months has altered the warm personal regard
I have for him and nor, do I believe, has it in any way reduced the
warm personal regard he has for me."

KEY POINTS

* John Howard acknowledged thats relations have been strained.

* Australia is not interested in separating Papua from Indonesia.

* The two leaders are good friends.

--------------------------------------

The Age (Melbourne)
Tuesday, June 27, 2006

No action on Bashir, but goodwill returns

by Michelle Grattan and Mark Forbes, Batam

PRIME Minister John Howard and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono 
have moved to put the relationship between their countries back on track 
despite Indonesia failing to make substantial commitments to act against Abu Bakar 
Bashir.

The accord was achieved at the price of their putting aside differences, but 
progress was made on the proposed new security treaty covering comprehensive 
bilateral co-operation, which would be negotiated by the end of the year.

Mr Howard got minimal joy from the President to his repeated appeals that 
Indonesia act against the radical cleric Bashir, although the Australians seemed 
satisfied after the meeting that Bashir would be under surveillance. The Prime 
Minister told their joint news conference that President Yudhoyono had agreed 
that the Indonesian Government would act pre-emptively against terrorist 
threats.

President Yudhoyono said recent developments "don't distract us from fighting 
terrorism and bringing anyone responsible to justice". He welcomed Mr 
Howard's strong reiteration of Australia's opposition to Papuan separatist movements. 
He said he was satisfied by the signals Australia had sent by refusing to 
grant visas to three recent asylum seekers from Papua.

Asked about Australia's proposed legislation toughening border protection - 
which has been held up by Coalition rebels - the President said that this was 
an internal matter for Australia but senior ministers would discuss the issue 
at their ministerial council in Bali this week.

Mr Howard released correspondence between himself and the President in which 
he had strongly pressed the issue of further action against Bashir, including 
close surveillance and the implementation of a UN resolution calling for the 
assets of terrorists to be seized.

President Yudhoyono argued that Bashir had to be released, as he had been 
convicted and served his term.

Mr Howard has reiterated Australia's reassurance to Indonesia over the 
question of its sovereignty over Papua.

President Yudhoyono welcomed Australia's guarantee that no Australian aid 
funds would be used by organisations to help the secessionist movement.

On the two Australians among the Bali nine drug runners who were sentenced to 
death, Mr Howard said he maintained that Australia opposed the death penalty.

----------------------------------------

The Age (Melbourne)
Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Opinion

Scorning Those in Need

by Arnold Zable

ON OCTOBER 12, 2001, in the predawn dark, 238 Afghan asylum seekers, 
including babies and children, reached Ashmore Island on an Indonesian fishing boat. 
They were overjoyed at arriving in Australian waters after a hazardous 
eight-day voyage. Hours later they were intercepted by an Australian navy ship, the 
Warramunga, and for the next five days they remained on their increasingly 
squalid vessel while the Prime Minister and some of his closest advisers 
deliberated on their fate.

On October 17, a party of navy personnel, backed by soldiers, boarded the 
boat now designated SIEV 5. Families were transferred to the Warramunga, while 
160 men were forced into the poorly ventilated hold of the fishing boat. Some 
fainted due to overcrowding, engine smoke and heat. But they still believed they 
were being taken to the Australian mainland. They did not know that while 
they were confined in the hold, the boat was being steered back to Indonesian 
waters. In a radical departure in Government policy, the navy was now under 
orders to forcibly push boats carrying asylum seekers out to sea.

On October 19, the families were transferred from the Warramunga back to SIEV 
5. According to the testimonies of asylum seekers, they were beaten and 
allegedly prodded with electrified batons. Some sailors are said to have wept at 
what they were instructed to do. It was a scene of extreme grief and terror. The 
boat was handed back to its Indonesian crew with some provisions, and those 
on board were left to fend for themselves. Nine days later, in an almost 
identical operation, more than 200 Iraqi asylum seekers were forced from Ashmore 
Lagoon on a boat designated SIEV 7, with similar scenes of distress and 
desperation. Three men disappeared, presumed drowned, as they waded ashore, at night, 
when the boat ran aground 300 metres off Roti Island.

Almost five years later, a number of the asylum seekers still languish in 
various locations in Indonesia, along with others who, after the sinking of a 
fishing boat on October 19, 2001, with the loss of 353 lives, decided not to risk 
the journey to Australia. They remain a forgotten people and, as refugee 
advocate Marion Le has recently pointed out, their plight sheds light on the 
Howard Government's new legislation requiring all asylum seekers to be processed 
offshore.

According to the Department of Immigration, there are 305 asylum seekers in 
Indonesia. UNHCR figures indicate that only 23 of the total number have refugee 
status, but no country has yet agreed to take them. About 200 are on 
temporary visas provided by UNHCR because it is not considered safe for them to return 
to the countries they fled. The remaining 80 or so have neither refugee 
status nor temporary visas.

It is also an expensive process, with the Australian Government providing the 
International Organisation for Migration an estimated $3.5 million a year for 
their upkeep. The asylum seekers cannot work nor afford to send their 
children to schools. Each case is an individual story of a life on hold. They reveal, 
as Le puts it, the hidden horror of Australia's border protection policy.

The brutal return of asylum seekers to Indonesia in 2001, and the Pacific 
Solution, which saw asylum seekers spend years on Nauru, are flagrant breaches of 
human rights. They mark an abandonment of due process in the treatment of 
vulnerable people who had already endured much suffering in their homelands. 
Hassan Ghulam, president of the Hazara Ethnic Society in Australia, observed after 
meeting asylum seekers on Lombok Island that they had been stripped of their 
human dignity and were falling apart.

The new hardline legislation which, in effect, would excise the Australian 
mainland from the migration zone, is a reminder that the Prime Minister has long 
regarded asylum seekers as political pawns. In 2001, the aggressive removal 
of SIEV 5 and other boats helped the Howard Government retain office. In 2006, 
the new policies, if passed, may serve to appease the Indonesians. But the 
common denominator is the Prime Minister's contempt for the basic rights of 
asylum seekers who have fled tyrannical regimes in fear for their lives.

To their credit, Coalition backbenchers who have stood up to the proposals 
have remained steadfast in opposing the bill. They understand that regardless of 
concessions, offshore processing in places such as Nauru will result in the 
inevitable traumas associated with living in isolation, for extended periods, 
without hope. Asylum seekers will, yet again, be kept beyond the legal redress 
available to them in Australia.

The proposals also reflect Howard's disregard for the Refugee Convention of 
1951 to which Australia remains a signatory. The convention emerged after 
millions were displaced due to war and extreme persecution, and after incidents 
such as the voyage of the St Louis, the German ocean liner that left Hamburg in 
May 1939 with 937, mostly Jewish, refugees. The ship was turned away from Cuba 
and the US, and forced back to Europe where many of the passengers fell victim 
to the Nazis.

The 1951 convention recognises that it is a basic right to seek asylum if one 
has a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, 
nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. It 
was based on the understanding that with one shift in the wind, you and I could 
be among the desperate. In the words of a Samurai maxim, even a hunter cannot 
harm a bird that flies to him for refuge.

Arnold Zable is a writer and president of Melbourne International PEN.

-----------------------------------------

Herald-Sun (Melbourne)
Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Ice-breaker on the beach

Michael Harvey, Batam

A STEAMY beachside encounter between John Howard and Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono has proved the key to thawing frosty relations between
Australia and Indonesia.

In sweltering humidity, the Prime Minister bumped into the Indonesian
President during his daily walk -- transforming a power walk into a
tropical power play that proved recent tensions between the two
nations were never personal.

"Do you come here often?" Mr Howard joked during the 90-second
back-slapping chat on this resort island in which the leaders
exchanged hugs and traditional cheek-to-cheek greetings.

Reaffirmation of their strong personal rapport was crucial to the
success later in the day of a more formal meeting in which
Australia-Indonesia relations were put back on track.

Mr Howard and Dr Yudhoyono agreed to disagree on the two main issues
-- Indonesia's indignation at the granting of protection visas to 42
West Papuan asylum-seekers, and Australia's outrage at the early
release from prison of terror guru Abu Bakar Bashir.

"Let us move on from recent challenges," Mr Howard said.

"Let's not allow them to stand in the way of what is a fundamentally
important relationship to both countries.

"I think there has been a tendency . . . to engage in too much
navel-gazing about difficulties instead of recognising the great
amount of common ground we have, considering how different the two
countries are."

Mr Howard said he was pleased to chance upon Dr Yudhoyono on the
morning walk, saying bilateral tensions did not alter his friendship
with a man whom he described as "a very likable bloke".

"That does not mean that he won't argue tenaciously for Indonesia's
point of view and I won't argue for Australia's point of view -- but
we have to make a joint effort."

Mr Howard said the West Papuan disagreement showed how both countries
were still getting to know each other.

"We are learning to understand the importance of mutual respect for
the legal processes of the two countries."

A series of letters between the leaders was released last night, in
which Mr Howard reaffirmed Australia's support for Indonesian
sovereignty over West Papua.

The PM also wrote of his disappointment with the release of Bashir,
urging Indonesia to observe a United Nations resolution for monitoring
the militant cleric's movements, freezing his assets and restricting
his travel.

Writing in response, Dr Yudhoyono said Indonesia had exhausted all
legal avenues in relation to the man accused over the 2002 Bali
bombings in which 202 people died, including 88 Australians.

Mr Howard said Indonesia's position was that they tried to have Bashir
prosecuted but the courts failed to convict him.

"What has happened is that he has said the law of Indonesia applies in
relation to Abu Bakar Bashir in the way that I have said that the law
of Australia applies in relation to the asylum-seekers," he said.

Although the countries were not a "natural fit" on historic, cultural
and ethnic measures, Mr Howard said they were united in the fight
against terror.

He respected Indonesia's embrace of democracy -- something for which
the rest of the world had not given Indonesia due credit.

On West Papua, Mr Howard ruled out returning the refugees to Indonesia
but he moved to reassure Dr Yudhoyono of Australia's support for
Indonesian sovereignty over the region.

-----------------------------------------

The Australian
Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Breaking the ice with sports shoe diplomacy

by Dennis Shanahan 

THE thawing of relations between Australia and Indonesia began early 
yesterday morning when John Howard and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono bumped into 
each other during their power walks on the steamy resort island of Batam.

The session of sports shoe diplomacy, which both sides insist was unscripted, 
marked the first time the two leaders had met since a row broke out three 
months ago over Canberra's decision to grant temporary visas to 42 Papuan 
separatists fleeing the Indonesian province. 

Photographers travelling in the Australian media pack have become accustomed 
to joining Mr Howard on his morning walks whenever he travels overseas. 

Yesterday was no different as he left his security-sealed Batam View resort 
in a nine-car convoy for the nearby Turi Beach Resort. 

After completing his beach walk, the Prime Minister was toiling - or at least 
making his entourage and hangers-on of about 30 sweat their way up the hill 
to the carpark - when Dr Yudhoyono was spotted with asimilar entourage 150m out 
on a pier. 

Security formalities were amended and for the first time since the 
Indonesians recalled their ambassador in protest at the granting of asylum to the 42 
Papuans, the two leaders met face to face. 

A sweaty Mr Howard, dressed in shorts and a Melbourne Commonwealth Games polo 
shirt, and Dr Yudhoyono, wearing Indonesian resort wear, embraced as Mr 
Howard declared it was "terrific to see you again". 

But the asylum-seeker issue was certainly not on the power-walk agenda. 
Instead, the two leaders exchanged pleasantries, geographic tidbits - "that's 
Singapore just over there" - and tourist information. Mr Howard said: "I've had a 
great walk. You've got some very nice golf courses." 

Dr Yudhoyono told Mr Howard about his talks on Sunday with Singapore Prime 
Minister Lee Hsien Loong, on Batam, and an agreement between the two countries 
to establish special economic zones on three Indonesian islands. 

"Two neighbours united nicely by Batam," he said in fluent English. 

The US-educated Dr Yudhoyono, who has made increased foreign investment in 
his cash-strapped country a priority, then made a pitch for more Australian 
business involvement in Batam, which is notorious as a centre for Indonesia's 
illicit flesh trade.

-------------------------------

The Age (Melbourne)
Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Rousing tune when piano players meet in whorehouse

IT WAS not quite kiss and make up, but warm greetings during the bizarrely 
"coincidental" meeting during yesterday's morning walks of Prime Minister Howard 
and President Yudhoyono marked the symbolic end to an acrimonious four-month 
rift.

Both emerged from their subsequent formal summit proclaiming it was time for 
Australia and Indonesia to be good neighbours again. They acknowledged that 
geography and common interests inextricably bound both nations.

That the summit was nearly cancelled, and failed to produce a joint 
declaration endorsing a new security treaty - but which is still likely to be finalised 
this year as the leaders privately agreed - demonstrates a fragility born of 
cultural misunderstandings, sensitivities over East Timor's independence and 
mistrust.

Most significantly, it shows that the need of both leaders to play to their 
national audiences can extract a heavy cost.

Although Howard's failure to pass tough anti-asylum-seeker laws in response 
to the visas granted to 42 Papuans did not help, it was his public demand for 
Yudhoyono to take tougher action against released cleric Abu Bakar Bashir that 
nearly scuttled the reconciliation.

Papered over with the publication of letters from both leaders recognising 
Australia's and Indonesia's appreciation of the distress Bashir's release 
caused, but also the independence of Indonesia's judicial system, was the 
confirmation by senior Indonesian figures that Howard's stance was seen as patronising 
and hectoring.

Bashir's release, after he was convicted for endorsing the 2002 Bali bombing, 
may have hit a raw nerve in Australia, but Howard's hectoring letter hit an 
even rawer nerve in Jakarta.

Although Bashir is not widely popular, a population that staged a bloody 
battle for independence following World War II does not take kindly to being 
dictated to by outsiders.

As for claims that the summit was never in question - with Jakarta suggesting 
it was Australian security concerns that led to a refusal to confirm the 
meeting, Australian officials were unaware of any threat.

In fact, the only significant protection required in the curiously chosen 
Batam is prophylactic. The island is effectively one huge whorehouse, servicing 
the nearby populations of Singapore and Malaysia.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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