Indonesia - pull your head in!

I'm surprised at how strongly the indonesian public (and for that matter, academia) has responded to the granting of Asylum to 42 Papuan refugees. An Indonesian trade council is actually boycotting AUstralian imports!! I never realised they were so nationalistic. Apparently, they are terrified of Papua becoming independant, because it has massive gold reserves.

For once, the immigration department has it right! Asylum is not a political toy, it is a humanitarian gesture offered on a case-by-case basis. Who can forget the days when we were condemming Saddam as a genocidal dictator, but if Iraqi refugee's arrived, we locked them up indefinitely.

One thing that politicians don't seem to understand is that the issue of boat people is not about them. People don't uproot their whole family (or worse - leave them behind), then put their life at risk to cross the seas in a leaky vessel, just to annoy politicians. For that matter, they don't run themselves through such personal trauma just to offend middle-class Australia. These decisions are not taken likely, and it is only out of desperation that they come.

Anyways, Indonesia - take a note. It is very simple. People will not try to flee your country if you don't violate their human rights. Stop abusing people (abuse that is well documented by Amnesty and other organisations). Include them in your country and give them a voice. Then they won't want to run away. Problem solved.