UnSubRocky wrote on May 22
nd, 2019 at 2:54am:
Brian Ross wrote on May 21
st, 2019 at 5:03pm:
Gordon wrote on May 21
st, 2019 at 12:13pm:
Agree 100% with Brian here but there are two threats Indonesia poses to Nth Australia
1/ Sea born rubbish washing up on our shores
2/ A staging point for illegals
1. If we help them, we will see the sea borne rubbish decrease.
2. If we pay them sufficiently, we won't see human traffickers get a start again in Indonesian territory.
I have seen a video of Bali waters strewn with plastic rubbish and other discarded items. I would be certain that the waste is from decades of build up. But seriously, I don't see a reason why Australia should help clean up Indonesian waters. Indonesia should have their fishermen do general clean ups. Hopefully, they have a Clean Up Indonesia Day, like there are clean up days internationally. But, they should be working on their mess in Indonesia thoroughly to avoid losing their fishing industry.
Perhaps Indonesia needs help to understand the problem? Why should we consider ourselves so aloof from their problems, when their problems infringe on us in a very real way? The world's oceans are all interconnected. Their rubbish has the danger to become our rubbish as well.
Quote:And if we start paying Indonesia to not send human traffickers our way, what do you think we are doing? The answer is bribing a nation to do what they should have been preventing happen, in the first place. Here's a defence issue: If Australians don't pay Indonesia to do their job, it is not far-fetched an idea that people smugglers won't get as much business transporting people to Australia. Transitionary migrants will get caught up in Indonesia with authorities forced to crack down on illegal migrants. If Indonesia wants to get, they have to first give.
Indonesia is paid to basically police the human traffickers problem. It is to our advantage to do so. It is much easier and cheaper to prevent the transport of Asylum Seekers at their source than their destination. Something Europe is discovering in Libya.
Indonesia has a unique problem. They don't impose visas on Muslims from Muslim countries. That is why Asylum Seekers stage from there to reach Australia. Since approximately 2007, the Indonesians have learnt the problems of doing that. They have several hundred thousand Asylum Seekers stranded inside their borders. Not being a signatory to the UN Convention makes their position perilous. They are subject to arbitrary arrest, deportation and are unable to legally work, be educated or access health care.
However, again you are straying outside the remit of this forum, UnSub. These are Indonesian domestic problems rather than Australian Defence or Foreign Affairs problems.