Indonesia-Australia diplomatic conflict
Diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Australia entered a new low with Indonesia's decision to recall its ambassador to the neighbouring south. The decision was made in response to Australia's decision to give temporary protection visa to 42 asylum seekers from Papua province.
The Indonesian government is shocked, disappointed by and regrets the Australian government`s move in granting temporary visas to 42 Indonesian citizens who had been seeking asylum in Australia, a senior minister said.
The Indonesian government is shocked, disappointed by and regrets the Australian government`s move in granting temporary visas to 42 Indonesian citizens who had been seeking asylum in Australia, a senior minister said.
"By doing so, Australia is blatantly ignoring the feelings and sensitivities of the Indonesian people," Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo AS said after attending a limitd cabinet meeting here Friday, Antara reported.
The Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) called on the government to recall immediately its ambassador to Australia following Canberra`s move to grant asylum for 42 Indonesian citizens from Papua.
House Speaker Agung Laksono revealed the DPR`s appeal at the closing of the House`s Third Term of Sessions at the DPR building here on Friday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Hasan Wirajuda said president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono endorsed the decision. The country is waiting Canberra's respond.
ABC reported that Labor's Kevin Rudd says Indonesia's decision to recall its ambassador is regrettable and he has urged diplomatic restraint.
The Papuans are to be relocated to Melbourne from a detention camp on Christmas Island, while the case of one remaining applicant is to be investigated further.
The asylum seekers are pro-independence activists and their families who spent five days at sea in a dugout canoe to reach Australia saying they had been tortured and feared for their lives if they were sent back home.
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says a decision to grant visas to a group of people from Papua does not undermine Australia's position that the province must remain part of Indonesia.
Australia and Indonesia have had other differences. The Australian government and groups within the country have sometimes criticised Indonesia's performance on human rights, while Indonesia has at times seen Australia as self-righteous and a knee-jerk ally of the United States.
Relations hit a low in 1999 when Australia led a U.N. force into East Timor to stem violence after the territory voted to break away from Indonesia.
But ties had warmed in recent years, especially as the two cooperated on anti-terrorism efforts following an October 2002 bombing attack in Bali that killed 202 people, many of them Australians.
House Speaker Agung Laksono revealed the DPR`s appeal at the closing of the House`s Third Term of Sessions at the DPR building here on Friday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Hasan Wirajuda said president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono endorsed the decision. The country is waiting Canberra's respond.
ABC reported that Labor's Kevin Rudd says Indonesia's decision to recall its ambassador is regrettable and he has urged diplomatic restraint.
The Papuans are to be relocated to Melbourne from a detention camp on Christmas Island, while the case of one remaining applicant is to be investigated further.
The asylum seekers are pro-independence activists and their families who spent five days at sea in a dugout canoe to reach Australia saying they had been tortured and feared for their lives if they were sent back home.
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says a decision to grant visas to a group of people from Papua does not undermine Australia's position that the province must remain part of Indonesia.
Australia and Indonesia have had other differences. The Australian government and groups within the country have sometimes criticised Indonesia's performance on human rights, while Indonesia has at times seen Australia as self-righteous and a knee-jerk ally of the United States.
Relations hit a low in 1999 when Australia led a U.N. force into East Timor to stem violence after the territory voted to break away from Indonesia.
But ties had warmed in recent years, especially as the two cooperated on anti-terrorism efforts following an October 2002 bombing attack in Bali that killed 202 people, many of them Australians.
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