At the meeting in Jakarta on Tuesday, Laoly said that the working group meeting on immigration needs, which is regularly held with Australia, is running well.
“Currently, Indonesia is accelerating the immigration process at airports through automatic checking. Apart from that, the exchange of information on border checking is also important,” he informed in a statement released by his ministry here on Wednesday.
The minister also underscored the importance of increasing the capacity of Indonesia and Australia’s immigration institutions and emphasized that the exchange of information between the two countries is crucial to protect their borders.
He added that following the 2023 meeting in Adelaide, Australia, the two countries need to implement the Adelaide Strategy on law enforcement, inter-stakeholder approach, information exchange, border management, victim protection and migration management, and human smuggling.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the two ministers also discussed the issue of Rohingya refugees.
O’Neil said that Australia wants to know how it can help resolve the issue.
Minister Laoly said that Asian countries have not resolved the issue because of the suspected involvement of a human trafficking syndicate.
Indonesia has established good cooperation in the handling of refugees with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Even though it has not ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention, Indonesia has been accepting refugees from countries in conflict.
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