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Australia offers aid to Indonesia to help solve asylum seekers crisis

Australia has offered aid to Indonesia as part of a long-term solution to the flow of Middle East asylum seekers trying to reach Australia via Indonesia.

The Prime Minister, John Howard, says the standoff over the Norwegian freighter with 438 asylum seekers on board, shows the risk of Australia losing control of its borders.

He says the ship, now in waters off Australia's Christmas Island, was en route to Indonesia when it saved the asylum seekers from a sinking Indonesian ship.

Mr Howard says a medium to long-term solution to the problem lies in greater cooperation between Australia and Indonesia.

The Prime Minister says Australia is ready to negotiate an understanding with Indonesia on control of asylum seekers from the Middle East.

Mr Howard says Australia will give significant financial aid to help pay for such a resolution.

Because these people are coming through Indonesia. It is easy to get into Indonesia. Many of them are coming through Malaysia. Many of them fly from Afghanistan and the Middle East to Southeast Asia. They have easy entry into a country like Malaysia because there's unrestricted right of entry, I understand, from Islamic countries into Malaysia. Now that's Malaysia's right to determine but it has an impact on their ease of entry to Malaysia and thence to Indonesia. If we can reach a situation where people who are unauthorised arrivals do not leave Indonesia, and in turn Indonesia discourages them from coming to Indonesia, we begin to have a solution.

29/08/01 15:22:16 | ABC Radio Australia News

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