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Jakarta: Indonesia has appealed to Australia to accept more refugees stranded in Indonesia ahead of a regional forum to combat people smuggling in Bali next week.
Indonesia's director-general of immigration, Ronny Sompie, told The Jakarta Post that Indonesia's 13 immigration detention centres were overcrowded as the number of "illegal migrants" had increased more than fivefold over the past seven years.
The United Nations' refugee agency, the UNHCR, also called on Australia to lift its ban on accepting refugees who arrived in Indonesia after June 2014, saying the global refugee crisis was making it increasingly difficult to find resettlement countries.
"We hope Australia will consider increasing its take of the refugees, although we know they will apply a very selective process before accepting them," Mr Ronny said in a story published on the front page of the Post.
He said he would extend the appeal to Australia at the upcoming Bali Process, which will be attended by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton on March 23.
As of January there were 13,679 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR in Indonesia, many of whom have been stuck in transit for years.
Australia resettled 808 refugees from Indonesia in 2013, according to UNHCR figures. This dropped to 526 in 2014 and 425 in 2015.
Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention and refugees cannot legally work there while waiting for resettlement in a third country.
Former immigration minister Scott Morrison announced in November 2014 that Australia's annual intake from Indonesia would be cut from 600 to 450 and anyone arriving after July 1, 2014, would be ineligible.
The UNHCR's representative in Indonesia, Thomas Vargas, told Fairfax Media this meant Australia would not take the Rohingyas who reached Indonesia after fleeing persecution in Myanmar during the refugee and trafficking crisis in South-east Asia last year.
"We are grateful for those (refugees) they are taking but unfortunately that doesn't help people who come after June 2014," Mr Vargas said.
"We are encouraging Australia to revisit that and for all countries to take a more lenient approach to ensuring there is more responsibility sharing."
A spokeswoman for Mr Dutton said Australia was already in the top three countries in the world for the resettlement of refugees on a per capita basis.
"Our commitment to increase this to 18,750 places in 2018-19 will make us among the most generous countries in the world," she said.
The spokeswoman said Australia was also by far the largest source of funds for the International Organisation of Migration in Indonesia, which assists refugees with food, medical care and accommodation.
She said this met the costs of about half the refugee population in Indonesia. "Since 2000, Australia has committed over $170 million in funding to support Indonesian authorities to provide a range of care services to irregular migrants intercepted in Indonesia."
However Mr Vargas said the global refugee crisis meant it was becoming much harder to find resettlement countries for refugees in transit in Indonesia.
While Germany accepted 98 refugees from Indonesia in 2014, for example, it was now overwhelmed by the refugee crisis on its own doorstep.
"We understand the discretion of every country to develop its own resettlement policies but given the state of the world we live in it is very important for countries to be taking a broader, more inclusive approach that shares the responsibility of what is happening in the world today," Mr Vargas said.
Indonesia last week reiterated its concerns over Australia's controversial boat turn-back policy, after Australian authorities asked Indonesian fishermen to return six Bangladeshis who wished to seek asylum in Australia.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told a delegation of senior Australian media representatives the turn-back policy was "still an issue now and I think there will still be some more to go in the future".
Mr Vargas said the UNHCR would look into the latest incident.
"If you look at the responsibilities under maritime law, anyone who rescues people who are in distress is then obliged to make sure they are safe and delivered to a port of safety," Mr Vargas said.
"It has to be analysed but I'm not sure giving someone to a fishing boat meets the responsibility of a state to ensure someone reaches a port of safety. After you've rescued someone at the high seas in distress you are responsible for them."
