The International Organisation for Migration in Indonesia says the people smuggling operations that took asylum seekers by boat to Australia are dormant.
More than 50,000 people have been smuggled into Australia since 2008.
About 14,000 asylum seekers are currently in Indonesia, many of whom have given up on trying to reach Australia by sea.
An IOM project manager in Jakarta, Paul Dillon, told Ben Robinson Drawbridge the largest group of migrants he monitors is from Afghanistan.
Australian navy personnel transfer Afghanistan asylum-seekers to a Indonesian rescue boat near Panaitan island, West Java on August 31, 2012 after the refugee's boat sunk.
Photo: AFP
Transcript
Paul Dillon: It's fair to say that a large segment of the roughly 8,600 migrants that receive assistance from IOM, arrived in Indonesia with the intention of travelling to Australia. That has started to change in recent years as it's become increasing difficult to travel by boat into Australian waters. The last couple years have seen an increasing number of migrants arriving in Indonesia seeking settlement through the UNHCR in Indonesia rather than specifically with the goal of travelling to Australia.
Ben Robinson Drawbridge: What do you think is deterring them from trying to make that voyage to Australia?
PD: I think there's a number of different things that folks are considering. In the context of this recent announcement by the governments of Australia and the United States, they have been explicit in telling people that this is a one off deal and that migrants arriving in Australian waters now will not be considered as part of that resettlement effort. That's an important detail that's being actively shared amongst the migrant groups here, many of whom are social media savvy and plugged into the media. They've got Facebook and Twitter and Viber and they're all in regular contact with family and friends overseas. The second consideration they'd have is that many of the migrants in Indonesia have been here for many years. Many of them have already been determined to be refugees. They are aware that Australia will not consider accepting anyone who registered with UNHCR here after July 2014 and so they're heavily invested in this ongoing, formal resettlement process through the UNHCR. And finally, many migrants who've travelled to Indonesia are already deeply traumatised by the journey that they've made. People have lost family and friends along the way and I think it's fair to say that their stories and memories still resonate within the community.
BRD: Have you any idea what this change of intentions may have done to the people smuggling operations that took people to Australia?
PD: The fact that the trips have dried up in the last couple of years suggests that the people smuggling networks are still out there, but they're dormant I would suggest.
BRD: So for people who decide to stay in Indonesia is a good option for refugee resettlement?
PD: A migrant arriving in Indonesia today is looking at a three to five year wait before their cases are considered and they're processed for resettlement and that's obviously not a guarantee. It's also contingent on there being countries that are prepared to accept migrants from Indonesia or indeed from Lebanon or Turkey and other countries where so many people have arrived in recent years. While Indonesia is not a signatory to the handling and the management of refugees and asylum seekers it is, I would suggest, a functioning regional model for the management of migrants in communities. What you do find in many of the areas where we have migrants living in the communities is that they're doing volunteer services for the local community, they're educating local kids, they're supporting orphanages, they're contributing and making a real positive impact in those communities and I think that's to the benefit of those communities and it's a great stabilising factor.
To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following:
See terms of use.