At a media conference in Canberra on April 7, called by PM John Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello to release the report of the Taskforce on Reducing the Regulatory Burden on Business, Howard revealed that his government was "reviewing" the process of granting temporary protection visas (TPVs) to asylum seekers.
Howard was asked by a journalist about the souring of relations between Canberra and Jakarta in the wake of Canberra's decision last month to grant TPVs to 42 asylum seekers who arrived "illegally" by boat from West Papua. Howard was then asked: "One of the concerns that has been raised by the Indonesians is that as a close ally and friend some special arrangements should have been considered in processing those 43. Would you envisage any future change to processing of unauthorised arrivals from West Papua in the light of that concern?"
Howard replied: "We would not change our processes in relation to a particular expression of concern. We are, in the wake of what has happened, looking at the processes but we will continue to abide by our international obligations. This is a difficult issue. It is very important that we keep to our international obligations. It is also very important that we preserve a good relationship with Indonesia, which I believe will remain the case despite the current difficulties."
Later in the news conference, Howard stated that "whatever comes out of that review, you can be certain that we will continue to meet our international obligations, but we will also, as we should, pay proper regard to the importance of the relationship between Australia and Indonesia".
Howard is clearly desperate to publicly assure Jakarta that it will not grant refugee status to any more asylum seekers from West Papua, while claiming that it still honours its "international obligations" toward asylum seekers. Hence his doorstop announcement of the "review" of the government's asylum seeker policy.
Speaking on ABC TV's Lateline program that evening, Labor finance spokesperson Lindsay Tanner warned that the "review" could be a "move that is designed to further curtail the opportunities of people legitimately seeking asylum to make a claim in Australia". This appears to be the case particularly with regard to future asylum seekers from West Papua.
Andrew Robb, the parliamentary secretary to immigration minister Amanda Vanstone, told Lateline host Tony Jones that Jakarta had "raised concerns" about the granting of asylum to the West Papuan refugees and that, "as a consequence, the PM has announced that we will have a review of the myriad of criteria that are assessed".
The April 8 Sydney Morning Herald reported that under the review the "government will consider rewriting the immigration regulations so that, when the independent arbiter of a refugee claim considers a case, there is an opportunity for the government to make a submission on national interest grounds as an extra piece of evidence to consider in making any decision".
While not formally breaching Australia's obligations under the 1951 international convention on refugees, such a change would mean that the human rights of asylum seekers from West Papua, or any other country, could be sacrificed to Canberra's desire to maintain friendly diplomatic relations or lucrative trade deals with the asylum seeker's country of origin.
After the revelations from the Cole inquiry that the Howard government sacrificed its "international obligations" even to its "great and powerful" ally in Washington to secure lucrative wheat deals with Iraq, assurances from this government that it will "honour its international obligations" toward asylum seekers should be given no credence.
As the AWB scandal has revealed, protecting and promoting — by legal or illegal means — the international money-making operations of Australian big business is what Canberra means by 'protecting the national interest". The human rights of people seeking asylum from persecution will be readily sacrificed if they get in the way of such avarice.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, April 12, 2006.
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