The three refugee activists detained by Indonesian police on Tuesday afternoon, in the vicinity of the boat at Merak, have been detained for questioning for second time by Indonesian immigration authorities.
The two Australian citizens are Sara Nathan, Tamil community activist from Sydney and Pamela Curr from the Asylum seeker Resource Centre in Melbourne. The Canadian citizen, Jessica Chandrashekar is from the humanitarian organisation, Canadian Humanitarian Appeal for Relief of Tamils (Canadian HART).
The three were detained by the Merak Marine police on Tuesday and questioned for almost 11 hours before being released, without their passports, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
There have intense discussions, through the day (Wednesday) involving consular staff of the Australian and Canadian embassies over the return of the passports.
Indonesian authorities demanded that the passports be collected in person from Merak. But on their arrival in Merak to collect their passports, the three were again detained and held for questioning.
They have now been released, but their passports will not be returned until the director of immigration considers their case and their responses to the questioning. It is believed the immigration authorities are considering whether the three are guilty of visa violations.
Refugee groups again expressed their concerns at the detention of the three activists. "There is no basis for their detention or questioning," said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.
"Indonesian government authorities at the highest levels were aware of their visit. On previous occasions there was specific advice from the Indonesian embassy in Canberra regarding the appropriate visa to use to visit Indonesia.
"The Australian government must intervene to demand the return of the passports and put an end to the bureaucratic farce. It seems they have become caught up in the wrangling between the Indonesian and Australian governments over the Merak boat. We understand that Australia's special envoy, Peter Woolcott, is presently in Jakarta for talks with the Indonesian government," said Ian Rintoul.
"The ultimate responsibility for the Merak boat, and the predicament of the three activists lies with the Australian government, not with the Indonesian government. The plight of the Merak asylum seekers has attracted international concern that Kevin Rudd's Indonesian solution breaches Australia's obligations under the Refugee Convention.
"We welcome the statements from Australian government Ministers that Australian will play a role resettling people from the Merak boat found to be refugees. We are hopeful that there will be a proposal for the resolution of the situation at Merak in the very near future."
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
No comments:
Post a Comment