[Kabar-Irian] News: August 14-15 2006

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August 14-15 2006
KABAR IRIAN NEWS

TOPICS

* Two conflicting tribes in Mimika reach peace
* Australian PM drops asylum bill
* Indonesian strategy 'defeats' Australia
* DAVID Wainggai settles in
* Downer stands by border protection legislation
* Migration defeat 'may upset Indonesians'
* Downer hopeful of Indonesian cooperation on migration
* Australia warned of Indon asylum flood
* Indonesia in warning on asylum laws
* Indonesia denies knowledge of Papuans' departure for Australia

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http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=18320

Two conflicting tribes in Mimika reach peace


Timika (ANTARA News) - Two tribes in the eastern district of Mimika in
Papua that have been involved in conflicts since July this year finally
reached peace on Monday.

A special traditional ceremony was held to mark the declaration of peace
between the Dani and Damal tribes, attended by Papua regional police chief
Inspector General Tommy Jacobus, Mimika disrict head Klemen Tinnal, Mimika
police chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Jimmy Tuilan and the chief of the
Mimika district military command, Lt Col Gustav Irianto.

Mimika district head Kelmen Tinnal said to avoid recurrence of the
conflict he planned to make the Kwamki Lama into a subdistrict now being
populated by 20,000 people.

He said the big population caused by migration of people from various
regions had so far been part of the cause of the conflict.

"It is the migrants who have no livelihood that have often made troubles
including participating in tribal fights," he said.

Mimika police chief Jimmy Tuilan said the police would continue processing
those considered to have masterminded the conflcts.

He also said that four company-level units of Mobile Brigade and
riot-control police would remain there to prevent any eventuality.

The clash between the two tribes broke out on July 24 leaving several
people dead. After stopping for a while the clash broke anew on August 12
leaving two dead.

The clash was triggered by the death of a child while swimming in SP2
River, accompanied by his uncle.

The uncle was tortured to death when he came to attend the funeral of the
child, triggering a revenge that led to the tribal conflict.

Kwamki Lama, which was the scene of the conflcits, and located 20
kilometers from Timika in Mimika, is now relatively secure.(*)

---

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4789637.stm


Australian PM drops asylum bill
John Howard
Mr Howard had been accused of trying to appease Indonesia
The Australian government has withdrawn a controversial bill to process
all future asylum seekers arriving by boat in offshore camps.

The legislation was due to go to the Senate, but a revolt by ruling party
lawmakers forced Prime Minister John Howard to cancel the vote.

It was Mr Howard's biggest setback in a decade in power, correspondents say.

The bill had sparked considerable debate, with three government lawmakers
opposing it in the lower house.

The legislation passed the lower house, where the ruling Liberal/National
coalition has a comfortable majority. It was then due to go to the Senate,
where the government only has a majority of one.

Mr Howard said the government cancelled the vote because an unspecified
number of government senators planned to oppose it.

"It was clear that the legislation was going to be defeated," he told
journalists.

Offshore

Refugee groups had spoken out against the proposed new laws.

Under current legislation, only people who arrive on outlying islands or
are intercepted at sea have their claims for Australian asylum processed
off-shore.

Protestors outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta on 5 April
Australia angered Jakarta by accepting Papuan refugees

Those arriving on the mainland have their cases handled inside the
country, under the Australian legal process.

The new legislation would have meant that all arrivals by boat would be
sent off-shore, mainly to the island state of Nauru.

Even if their claims for refugee status were accepted, it would have been
unlikely that any of the boat people would have been allowed to settle in
Australia.

Critics had also accused John Howard of using the bill to heal rifts with
Indonesia.

A recent decision to accept about 40 Papuan asylum seekers angered
Jakarta, which said that by giving the group refugee visas, the
Australians were showing tacit support for Papuan independence.

Papua was granted self-rule by its Dutch colonists in 1961, but was then
annexed by Indonesia. A low-level insurgency has been going on in the
province ever since.

But Mr Howard told journalists the bill was not aimed at appeasing Indonesia.

"This bill was not designed to get a tick in Jakarta," he said.


---
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/indonesian-strategy-defeats-australia/2006/08/12/1154803145300.html

Indonesian strategy 'defeats' Australia

Tom Hyland
August 13, 2006


THE Indonesian Army manipulated the voyage to Australia of 43 West Papuan
asylum seekers in a secret pyschological warfare operation that gave
Jakarta a diplomatic and strategic victory over the Howard Government, a
former intelligence analyst says.

Indonesian Army specialists in psychological operations ("psyops") knew
the West Papuans planned to sail to Australia and let the voyage go ahead,
believing Indonesia could benefit as a result, says the expert on the
Indonesian military.

The secret operation then pyschologically penetrated and destabilised the
Federal Government's decisions and appears to have won the army the right
to expand its influence in West Papua.

Making the claims is Matthew Davies, a former army officer and Defence
Department intelligence analyst. His conclusions coincide with the debate
that has torn divisions in the Federal Government over tough new migration
laws, introduced following strong Indonesian protests after the asylum
seekers were granted refuge.

"They knew they were going, and believed this was beneficial," Mr Davies
told The Sunday Age.

In an unpublished report, he says Jakarta's handling of the diplomatic row
that erupted over the asylum seekers showed "a canny ability to penetrate
the Australian Government's 'decision cycle' to attain favourable
results".

The Indonesian military understood the Government's mentality and knew it
was "locked in" to taking tough action against unauthorised arrivals as it
had politically exploited the issue and feared a continuing influx.

Mr Davies says that if the "diplomatic posturing" was viewed as a
sophisticated psychological operation, Indonesia secured a significant
strategic result in the "destabilisation of a large Australian target".

His conclusions, drawing on published Indonesian sources, are made in a
report analysing the operations of Indonesian security forces in West
Papua. Mr Davies, a linguist and author, is an expert on Indonesian
military doctrine, personnel and structure.

News of his findings comes ahead of this week's Senate debate on the
Government's migration bill, which requires asylum seekers arriving by
boat to be sent to far-flung islands such as Nauru while their refugee
claims are assessed.

Last week three Government lower house MPs voted against the bill while
two abstained. A number of Government senators have deep reservations
about it.

The Opposition says the bill is an attempt to appease Indonesia.

The decision to give the West Papuans refugee status after their arrival
from the West Papuan port of Merauke in January triggered a diplomatic
rift, with Jakarta withdrawing its ambassador as Indonesian MPs and
sections of the Jakarta media accused Australia of supporting separatists.
The rift has been patched, with the Government introducing the migration
bill, reaffirming its support for Indonesian control of West Papua and
pushing ahead with talks on a security treaty.

While the row heartened supporters of West Papuan independence by drawing
attention to their cause, Mr Davies' thesis is that Jakarta and its
military emerged victorious. "Such success would likely see West Papua
become the table on which Indonesian leaders could bargain for the most
beneficial results of a restored bilateral security treaty with
Australia," he says.

The episode has delivered specific gains to the Indonesian military, which
is keen to regain its former pre-eminent role not only in internal
security, counter-terrorism and intelligence, but in government as well.

It gave the military "yet greater scope for expansion", the report says.
"The Merauke case's most enduring irony could be that Australia helped
Indonesian military expansion 
 in that part of Indonesia closest to the
land mass of Australia itself."

Mr Davies' report highlights what he says is an unusual and abnormal
military intelligence operation based in Merauke, on West Papua's south
coast, headed by Colonel Kitaran Joy Sihotang, a veteran "psyops" expert.
His report says the departure of the asylum seekers from Merauke is "odd"
given the area contains security headquarters, troops and a navy base.
"The voyage from Merauke indicated a deliberate manipulation by TNI psyops
veterans, buffered by proxy agents for strict deniability."

He says his analysis in no way contradicts or denies the West Papuan
asylum seekers' claims for protection visas.


---

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/asylumseeker-no-43-has-a-new-start/2006/08/13/1155407670304.html

 Michael Gordon
August 14, 2006

DAVID Wainggai is a big part of the reason the Howard Government decided
to toughen its already tough border protection laws. But he is an even
bigger part of the reason those laws now look very likely to be defeated
in the Senate.

If the laws were in place today, Mr Wainggai would not be enjoying his
first taste of freedom in Melbourne. He would be on Nauru, fearing the
prospect of years of crushing isolation and uncertainty.

Mr Wainggai is the best known of the 43 Papuan asylum seekers whose
arrival on Cape York in January prompted the sequence of events that led
to the plan for all unauthorised boat arrivals to be processed on Nauru.

The other 42 were granted temporary protection visas almost immediately
when their fear of being persecuted if they were returned to Papua was
ruled to be well founded. Those decisions prompted the Indonesian backlash
that, in turn, led the Australian Government to radically ramp up its
border protection legislation.

Mr Wainggai, 30, was refused a visa and spent nearly five months alone on
Christmas Island before the Refugee Review Tribunal upheld his appeal and
ruled that he was a person "to whom Australia has protection obligations
under the (United Nations) Refugees Convention".

It has been a traumatic period for Mr Wainggai, who says he kept thinking
of his father, Dr Thomas Wainggai, who died in a Jakarta jail in 1996,
eight years after being arrested for his part in a protest where the
Papuan flag was raised in Jayapura.

There was even a point where he says he feared that he, too, would die in
detention.

Mr Wainggai yesterday told The Age how he was sustained by prayer, support
from friends in Australia and the advice from his Australian lawyers that
his claim was likely to succeed — advice they insist he could not be given
if the new laws applied.

"It's a relief to be here," said the man with a remarkable capacity for
understatement. Mr Wainggai is staying with Jacob Rumbiak, who was a
colleague of his father at university in Jayapura. Mr Rumbiak was arrested
the year after Thomas Wainggai and spent 10 years in Indonesian jails
before being granted refugee status in Australia.

The most poignant moment after Mr Wainggai's arrival came on Saturday when
he was reunited with his cousin, Herman Wainggai, at the home of Mr
Rumbiak and his partner, Louise Byrne. For several minutes the four
embraced.

"We just cried for God answering our prayers and blessing the Australian
Government," said Herman Wainggai, who was one of the 42 issued with visas
in March. David Wainggai was in grade 5 at primary school when his father
was taken from the family.

He vividly recalls the previous evening, where the family stood in a
circle around the Papuan flag and prayed at the family home.

He did not attend the flag-raising protest the following morning, but
tells how he was forced at gunpoint to give Indonesian soldiers the keys
to his father's office after the arrest.

The cousins do not dispute Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone's claim
that they are political activists, but insist their fear for their safety
was acute before they fled their country.

They also maintain that they would not have been safe if they had simply
crossed to Papua New Guinea, as Senator Vanstone asserts, saying the
Indonesian military and intelligence is well established in that country
and would have sought to track them down.

David Wainggai hopes to study in Melbourne and wants one day to be able to
return without fear to Papua.

One of his lawyers, David Manne, says that under the new laws the appeal
process after the initial rejection would have been far less certain and
that, even if Mr Wainggai's appeal had been upheld, he would have faced
potentially years of uncertainty on Nauru while the Australian Government
waited for a third country to take him.


---

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2006/s1714862.htm

Downer stands by border protection legislation

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 14/08/2006

Reporter: Tony Jones

Tony Jones speaks with Foreign Minister Alexander Downer about the Howard
Government's decision to withdraw controversial border protection
legislation.
Transcript
TONY JONES: Now to our interview with Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. I
spoke to him this evening in our Canberra studio. Alexander Downer, thanks
for joining us.

ALEXANDER DOWNER, FOREIGN MINISTER: It's a pleasure.

TONY JONES: Now just how much damage control will you have to do now with
Indonesia after the scrapping of this asylum bill?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Well, I've spoken with the Indonesian Foreign Minister
and explained to him what has happened here, in a way you would imagine
and he has rehearsed what they describe as the Indonesian talking points
on this issue, that Indonesia deeply regrets that the Government wasn't
able to get the legislation through the Australian Parliament. They accept
that it's an internal matter, internal political matter for Australia and
obviously they want us to uphold our commitment to Papua's incorporation
into Indonesia, both in words and deeds. But we had a friendly discussion,
but obviously the Indonesians do deeply regret the fact that it wasn't
possible to get the legislation through.

TONY JONES: Did he warn you to expect any sort of diplomatic reaction, any
kind of reprisal?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: No, he didn't. He did, of course, say that there would
be some reaction from various people and commentators and others in
Indonesia about this. He did make that point and that obviously the
Indonesians would strengthen as best they could their border security and
they would, you know, do what they could to try to continue the work that
the President in particular has been doing to settle things down in Papua.
We had quite a discussion about President Yudhoyono's recent visit to
Papua and this visit, according to the reports of our embassy in Jakarta,
was a very successful visit. So we had an opportunity to talk about that
aspect of the situation as well.

TONY JONES: That's the diplomatic, if you like, conversation between two
men who you might describe as good friends. But you do expect an angry
reaction, because there are people quite high up within the Yudhoyono
administration who will be quite annoyed by this?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Well, not so much with the Australian Government because
I think they know that the Prime Minister and others have been trying to
get this legislation through. But I mean, I think the wording they've
chosen - "deeply regret" - pretty much says it all. They obviously do
deeply regret that in the end we weren't able to get it through the
Senate. They're not blaming the Australian Government for that. They
realise that that is a function of our political - of our democratic
system.

TONY JONES: The first response from the Foreign Minister's spokesman
wasn't very promising, though, was it? He said the decision "could be
interpreted as Australia opening the doors to asylum seekers, "including"
- and this is the key line - "illegal immigrants who have been waiting in
Indonesia "for many years." That reads like a threat?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: I don't think they're threatening us but, of course, the
point I would make is that co-operation with Indonesia in order to stop
illegal migration to Australia and in particular through the process of
people smuggling has been very important. I mean, we don't want people to
come illegally to our country and we particularly don't want people to
venture forth on tiny little boats across the ocean. We all recall that
people have been drowned endeavouring to do that and the Indonesians'
co-operation in stopping people smuggling has been an enormously important
component of the success of our border protection policy. Now the Foreign
Minister didn't suggest to me that they were going to abandon that
co-operation. Obviously, I'd hope very much they wouldn't.

TONY JONES: How do you interpret then the implied threat here from his
spokesman? He seems to be saying that Indonesia might take off the
restraints, in which case those illegal immigrants waiting in Indonesia,
biding their time, could end up on leaky boats to Australia?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Look, I think they do have a concern that as a matter of
fact we share and that is that people might try to exploit what you might
call the generosity of the Australian system for political purposes.
Whilst on the one hand we here in Australia do take refugees - we take
13,000 refugees a year - and we're happy to take refugees, on the other
hand we don't want our generosity to be exploited for political or
propaganda purposes. So from our point of view, we want to try to get that
balance right and from the Indonesians' point of view they don't want
campaigns in relation to West Papua's successionism to revolve around
these kinds of issues.

TONY JONES: Are you at all nervous that, given what the Foreign Ministry
spokesman has said, there may be a view here in Indonesia that to teach
Australia a lesson you could take the restraints off and let those people
who they have been holding in Indonesia go?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Well, they could. The Foreign Minister hasn't said that
to me. So I have no reason to believe that's what they will do.

TONY JONES: But they could do that?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Of course they could. Obviously it's a point that we've
tried to emphasise, that we believe in a strong border protection policy
and we need the co-operation of Indonesia to ensure that strong border
protection policy works. And we hope that that co-operation will continue.
We've made the point to the Indonesian Government that this decision today
was the decision of the Parliament, the Opposition, the minor parties and
a small number of people in our own ranks. It was not the position of the
Australian Government. And they understand that distinction.

TONY JONES: If they're not blaming the Australian Government, then who are
they blaming, in fact?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: We didn't get into that discussion, I just explained the
situation. I didn't go through the individuals.

TONY JONES: Just a few years ago the party and its MPs, your party I mean,
were behind the Government, they were behind the decisions on 'Tampa',
they were behind the Pacific Solution. What's changed since then to prick
their consciences now?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Well, you're asking me to explain what a very small
number of people have done.

TONY JONES: I imagine you've been in debate with them trying to get them
to change their minds?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: I have had discussions occasionally with them, but I
mean, Amanda Vanstone has mainly handled that, as you can imagine being
the key minister here. But we've all played our part. But I mean, the
overwhelming majority of members of the Liberal and National parties
remain very committed to a strong border protection policy and I think we
all recognise that more than that, despite the fact that from time to time
it's controversial, it's been effective. We have stopped people coming
here illegally. Yet at the same time we've been taking 13,000 refugees a
year and people aren't venturing across the ocean in tiny boats and
risking their lives and sometimes losing their lives, because we put in
place a strong border protection policy. Now there are people who campaign
against that. But the vast majority of people in the Coalition strongly
support it.

TONY JONES: Can I put to you the question raised by Senator Fielding at
the weekend and it's simply this: what would happen if other countries -
in fact, all other countries around the world - took the same view of the
Australian Government, that it should not process asylum seekers or
refugees that actually reach their territory, it shouldn't process them on
their own territory?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Different countries have different circumstances but I
think a lot of countries are beginning to look again at how they handle
these issues. To be honest with you, particularly in Europe but in other
parts of the world, developed countries are asking themselves whether they
shouldn't have had a stronger approach to this. We've always said that the
best thing for Australia is to be generous with refugees, with a refugee
quota, to take a big migration program which is what we do. We have a
substantial organised, visa-driven, if you like, migration, these are
authorised migration program. But over and above that, we discourage
people. Now I think other countries - and it's what they say to me
privately - they admire the way we do it. Not all countries have the same
circumstances as us, so it's simply impractical for them to do exactly
what we do. Some of them have land borders.

TONY JONES: True. But if they had, if they'd taken the same in-principle
stand that you don't use your own territory as the place that you process
asylum seekers or refugees, that would be chaos, wouldn't it,
internationally?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: It would depend if they could find a place where they
could do it. That's what it would boil down to, whether a) they wanted to
do it and whether b) they could find a country prepared to do it. We have
found such a country in Nauru and that's how it's worked for us and it's
been one of the factors that's been very important in stopping
particularly people smuggling and illegal immigration. It's not to say we
don't want to take refugees who are genuine refugees but it's certainly
been very effective in stopping people smuggling.

TONY JONES: Alexander Downer, we thank you very much for taking the time
to come and talk to us tonight.

ALEXANDER DOWNER: It's a pleasure.

---

http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Migration-defeat-may-upset-Indonesians/2006/08/14/1155407740759.html

Migration defeat 'may upset Indonesians'

August 14, 2006


Australia has been warned to expect a backlash within the Indonesian
community over the government's decision to abandon its tough immigration
laws.

And Foreign Minister Alexander Downer conceded it could prompt Indonesia
to open the floodgates for people wanting to seek asylum in Australia.

Mr Downer has spoken to his Indonesian counterpart, Hassan Wirajuda, to
explain the government's decision to abandon its legislation rather than
face an embarrassing defeat in the Senate.

The dumped legislation was drafted following Indonesian anger over
Australia's decision to grant asylum to 43 people from Indonesia's
contested Papua province earlier this year.

Jakarta says it deeply regrets the failure of the legislation and, in
reference to Papua, expects Australia to continue to respect Indonesia's
territorial integrity.

An Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman told ABC radio Australia's
failure to endorse the legislation could be interpreted as Australia
opening the door to asylum seekers.

These could include illegal immigrants who have been in Indonesia for many
years and may seek asylum in Australia, he said.

While his discussion with Dr Wirajuda was friendly, Mr Downer was warned
that the reception within the community may be different.

"He did say that there would be some reaction from various commentators
and others within Indonesia about this," Mr Downer told ABC television.

"Obviously the Indonesians would strengthen as best they could their
border security."

"(Members of the government) know the prime minister and others have been
trying to get the legislation through."

But Mr Downer admitted the comments from the foreign ministry spokesman
could mean a relaxation in Indonesia on the policies keeping a lid on
unauthorised boat arrivals in Australia.

"They could; the foreign minister hasn't said that to me ... but they
could," he said.

"Obviously it's a point we've tried to emphasise. We believe in a strong
border protection policy and we need the cooperation of Indonesia to
ensure that strong border protection policy works."

It was a sentiment echoed by Mr Howard.

"Indonesia has assisted in stopping the flow of boat people," the Prime
Minister told ABC television. "I'm talking here about people here who've
come to Indonesia from other countries.

"We shouldn't look at Indonesia's role in relation to border protection in
a hostile fashion, but rather see cooperation with Indonesia as being an
important element.

"Cooperating with Indonesia in relation to the general conduct of border
protection policies is quite important."

© 2006 AAP

---

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1714887.htm

Last Update: Tuesday, August 15, 2006. 5:03am (AEST)

Illegal immigration ... Mr Downer says Indonesia has not withdrawn
cooperation. (File photo) (Lateline)

Downer hopeful of Indonesian cooperation on migration

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says Indonesia does not blame
the Federal Government for the collapse of plans to extend offshore
processing for asylum seekers.

An Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman has expressed deep regret over
the scrapping of plans for tougher border protection, saying the outcome
could be interpreted as Australia opening the door to asylum seekers.

Yesterday the Government abandoned its plan to process offshore all asylum
seekers arriving by boat, with the Prime Minister saying it had no chance
of passing the Senate.

Mr Downer has spoken to his Indonesian counterpart and says Indonesia does
not blame the Government for the Bill's demise.

"They're not blaming the Australian Government for that, they realise that
is a function of our political, of our democratic system," he said.

Mr Downer says he hopes Indonesia will continue to work with Australia on
illegal immigration and says there has been no suggestion cooperation
would diminish.

"I hope that they won't take any steps which will diminish their
cooperation in terms of dealing with people smuggling and illegal
immigration," he said.

"I hope they won't take any steps and I'll do what I can to try to
discourage them from taking that sort of a measure.

"But they've not suggested to me that they will make any changes in my
discussion with the [Indonesian] Foreign Minister."

Opposition immigration spokesman Tony Burke says any diplomatic fallout is
the Government's fault for raising false expectations.

"Any discontent now from Indonesia lays squarely at the feet of John
Howard," he said.

Indonesia withdrew its ambassador from Australia earlier this year in
response to the granting of visas to a group of Papuan asylum seekers; the
ambassador returned to Canberra in early June.


---

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20133133-1702,00.html


Australia warned of Indon asylum flood

By Sandra O'Malley

August 15, 2006 12:29am
Article from: AAP


AUSTRALIA has been warned to expect a backlash within the Indonesian
community over the Government's decision to abandon its tough immigration
laws.

And Foreign Minister Alexander Downer conceded it could prompt Indonesia
to open the floodgates for people wanting to seek asylum in Australia.

Mr Downer spoke today to his Indonesian counterpart, Hassan Wirajuda, to
explain the government's decision to abandon its legislation rather than
face an embarrassing defeat in the Senate.

The dumped legislation was drafted following Indonesian anger over
Australia's decision to grant asylum to 43 people from Indonesia's
contested Papua province earlier this year.

Jakarta says it deeply regrets the failure of the legislation and, in
reference to Papua, expects Australia to continue to respect Indonesia's
territorial integrity.

An Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman told ABC radio Australia's
failure to endorse the legislation could be interpreted as Australia
opening the door to asylum seekers.

These could include illegal immigrants who have been in Indonesia for many
years and may seek asylum in Australia, he said.

While his discussion with Dr Wirajuda was friendly, Mr Downer was warned
that the reception within the community may be different.

“He did say that there would be some reaction from various commentators
and others within Indonesia about this,” Mr Downer told ABC television.

---

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/indonesia-in-warning-on-asylum-laws/2006/08/14/1155407742354.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Indonesia in warning on asylum laws

Michael Gordon, Jewel Topsfield and Mark Forbes
August 15, 2006


INDONESIA has warned that Australia is opening the door to a new wave of
asylum seekers after John Howard abandoned his tougher border protection
legislation in a humiliating backdown yesterday.

Jakarta's warning came as the Government took a hard line with eight
asylum seekers discovered on Sunday at Ashmore Reef, off Western
Australia, announcing they would be the first sent to Nauru in four years.

The Prime Minister withdrew his migration bill after Victorian Liberal
senator Judith Troeth told him she would vote against it, ensuring its
defeat. "I'm a realist as well as a democrat and that is why we have taken
the decision we've taken today," Mr Howard said later.

But the cave-in prompted a warning that it would encourage several hundred
asylum seekers, mainly Iraqis and Afghans who have been living in
Indonesia since 2001, to attempt the boat trip to the Australian mainland.

"This can be seen as Australia opening the door for asylum seekers,
including those illegal migrants who have been in Indonesia for many
years," said Indonesian Government spokesman Desra Percaya.

Australian Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone echoed the warning,
telling reporters she was sure there were "people in Indonesia who would
seek to re-awaken their interest in coming to Australia".

Senator Vanstone used the detection of the eight asylum seekers, believed
to be from Burma, to dramatise the consequences of the legislation being
abandoned. "If, as expected, this group was dumped by people smugglers,
this is an example of why our tough border security stance is a
necessity," she said.

Because they were detected on an island that was excised from Australia's
migration zone under the "Pacific Solution", Senator Vanstone said they
would be processed on Nauru.

Had they made it to the mainland and been found not to be refugees, they
would "have been able to stay here for years on end contesting that
decision".

The new laws would have made no distinction between those intercepted
offshore and those who made it to the mainland. All would have been
processed on Nauru, but in vastly better circumstances than have applied
until now.

No asylum seekers have been sent to Nauru for processing since fewer than
50 were transferred from there to Manus Island in August 2002.

Mr Howard and Senator Vanstone said the defeat of the new laws meant none
of the reforms planned for Nauru would proceed. These included separate
village-style accommodation for family groups, 90-day time limits on
processing and oversight by the Australian ombudsman.

Refugee groups and opposition MPs welcomed the withdrawal of the
legislation, but attacked the refusal to proceed with reforms on Nauru.

"This is just petulant, callous behaviour. There's no doubt the Government
intends to punish desperate people in order to save its own pride," said
Labor immigration spokesman Tony Burke.

Democrats Senator Andrew Bartlett said the response showed the Government
had never been serious about making the system more humane.

The cave-in was announced to a special meeting of Government MPs after
Senator Troeth met with Mr Howard, and National Party Senator Barnaby
Joyce said he would abstain from the vote because an amendment he proposed
had been rejected.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer phoned his Indonesian counterpart,
Hassan Wirayuda, to brief him on developments.

On the ABC's Lateline last night, Mr Downer said Mr Wirayuda told him
Indonesia deeply regretted that the Government wasn't able to get the bill
passed. "They accept that it's an internal political matter for Australia
and obviously they want us to uphold our committment to Papua's
incorporation into Indonesia both in words and deeds."

Mr Howard earlier insisted the bill had not been "designed to get a tick
in Jakarta".

He also warned against any backlash against Liberals who forced the
backdown, including WA MP Judi Moylan, who faces a preselection battle. "I
will not be seeking within the ranks of the Liberal Party organisation the
exaction of any kind of vengeance. Nothing is achieved by that," Mr Howard
said.

Michael Gordon's interview with Judith Troeth, the woman who sank the
Government's border protection legislation.


---

Indonesia denies knowledge of Papuans' departure for Australia (via joyo
news)

JAKARTA, August 14 (AFP) -- Indonesia's military on Monday denied a
report that it had allowed dozens of Papuan asylum-seekers to leave
Indonesia as part of a strategy to pressure Canberra on its
immigration policies.

Indonesia was aware the Papuans would sail to Australia in January and
let the voyage go ahead believing Jakarta could benefit, a report in
the Sunday Age alleged, citing a former Australian Defence Department
intelligence analyst.

Indonesian army specialists in psychological operations "knew they
were going, and believed this was beneficial," the analyst, Mark
Davies, was quoted as saying by the Australian newspaper.

Jakarta's handling of the row that erupted after their arrival showed
"a canny ability to penetrate the Australian government's 'decision
cycle' to attain favourable results," Davies reportedly said in an
unpublished report.

The Indonesian military knew Canberra was "locked in" to taking tough
action against illegal immigrants as it had politically exploited the
issue and feared an ongoing influx, the report said.

Indonesian military spokesman Ahmad Yani however denied the claims.

"There is no indication that we knew," he told AFP.

"I very much doubt this analysis," he said of the report, which he
said he had not yet seen himself.

Forty-two of the 43 Papuans were given short-term protection visas,
sparking a serious diplomatic row between the two nations, with
Jakarta withdrawing its ambassador and Canberra drafting a tough new
immigration law in response.

But Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Monday ditched plans for
the law, saying he did not have sufficient support in parliament.

The government had proposed processing asylum-seekers in remote
Pacific island camps.

The bill was seen by many as a way to appease Indonesia and an effort
to discourage further Papuans from heading to Australia for asylum,
but Howard denied the government was kowtowing to its neighbour.

The diplomatic row also gave Indonesia's military greater scope for
expansion in Papua, Davies also concluded, according to the Sunday
Age.

The case's "most enduring irony could be that Australia helped
Indonesian military expansion in that part of Indonesia closest to the
land mass of Australia itself," the report said.

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.

In the wake of the asylum-seeker row, Howard visited Indonesia to
repair ties and declared Australia's support for Indonesian
sovereignty over Papua.