Indonesian military chief says he discussed boat turnbacks with ADF commander
Updated
Indonesian government officials appear at odds over Indonesia's stance on Australia's policy of turning back asylum seeker boats, with the country's military chief saying he agrees while the foreign and security affairs ministers reject the hard-line measure.
The chief of Indonesia's National Armed Forces, General Moeldoko, has told the Jakarta Post that he spoke with Australian Defence Force chief David Hurley about asylum seeker boats allegedly forced back into Indonesian waters by the Navy, and that he understands Australia's policy.
"Following [our] halted military cooperation with Australia, the country's Defence Force chief called me to discuss several issues, including how to deal with the boat people," General Moeldoko told the paper.
"I have agreed. Therefore, we don't need to feel offended."
However a spokesman for the office of Indonesia's Coordinating Legal and Security Affairs Minister, which has been assigned to deal with the asylum-seeker issue, says there is no agreement on Australia's policy, echoing recent comments by the foreign minister Marty Natalegawa.
"As far as I know, we have no such agreement," spokesman Agus Barnas told the Post. "Also, our office hasn’t been notified about any deals our military made [with Australia's]."
And Mr Natalegawa this week said: "On the push-back policy itself, let me put on record our rejection of the policy. Pushing back the boats is not a solution."
Neither Prime Minister Tony Abbott nor Immigration Minister Scott Morrison have been willing to describe what a tow-back operation involves.
In a statement, Mr Morrison repeated that the Government would not comment on "operational" matters.
"For operational security reasons, the Government does not disclose, confirm or otherwise comment on reports of on-water activities in relation to Operation Sovereign Borders," he said.
"Australian personnel serving within Border Protection Command conduct themselves professionally and responsibly, in accordance with their operational protocols."
Asylum seekers claim they were mistreated by Australian Navy
The apparent discord comes amid claims from two men who say they were mistreated by the Australian Navy when their asylum seeker boats were towed back towards Indonesia and abandoned at sea.
Though difficult to verify, both men's stories are strikingly similar.
One man named Yusuf identified himself as a Sudanese asylum seeker, and says he and his wife paid $6,000 to travel from Indonesia to Australia.
They boarded a boat with more than 40 others, and reached a small island off the coast of Darwin before the engine broke down on New Year's Day.
Yusuf says after the group called the United Nations for help, two Australian naval ships arrived.
The ship numbers he gave correlate to those for HMAS Parramatta and HMAS Glenelg.
Yusuf says the Navy used force on some people, including women, while transferring them to one of the Navy boats.
Yusuf says a number of people were restrained and that some of the people onboard jumped into the water.
"Some of our people, they jump on the water as a protest. Nine people, and then they take them aboard," he said.
It was the start of a tow-back that was to last five days.
Yusuf says those onboard were told they were being taken to Christmas Island, denied their satellite and navigation tools and given one meal a day.
He claims the Navy fixed one of the boat's engines before the asylum seekers were forced back onto their boat.
He says the Navy then abandoned the group in the middle of the night, in rough seas off Indonesia's Rote Island.
They made it ashore on the island, and are now in an immigration centre in Kupang.
Yusuf's account is similar to a story told by Marke, who identified himself as Somali.
He was onboard the first boat reportedly towed back to Indonesian territory on December 10.
Marke also claims there was some rough handling of asylum seekers by personnel from HMAS Parramatta and HMAS Maitland.
Marke says his experience was a simple roping manoeuvre, followed by a tactical deception about their destination.
"They put a rope. Then they said, 'We are going to Australia, to Christmas Island'. They told us a lie," he said.
A few days later Marke and his fellow asylum seekers were put back onto their boat.
Boat arrivals sent to back of queue for family reunion visas
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has moved to make it harder for refugees who arrived by boat and are now living in Australia to be reunited with their families.
Mr Morrison says anyone who arrives by boat will go to the back of the queue when applying for family reunion visas.
The move applies retrospectively to people as far back as 2001.
In a statement, Mr Morrison says those who arrive by boat should not be prioritised over applicants who arrive in Australia through legitimate means.
Topics: immigration, community-and-society, federal-government, defence-and-national-security, indonesia, australia
First posted
Christmas Island (left), Rote Island (right). 
The   back arriving asylum seekers to , Indonesia, after claiming  destination,  reported Monday of last week. Last Thursday, Australian Prime Minister  supported lack of transparency on the issue.

Indonesian police found the two ships reportedly forcibly towed back from Australia on December 19, and on January 6 after being towed on . A self-identified Sudanese asylum seeker from one of the boats reported the Navy ship numbers, identifying them as  and , and said the refugees were denied access to navigation tools during the duration of the route and abandoned in sea in the middle of the night. Commenters called such practice "", "tow-backs", "turn-backs".

Police chief Hidayat Rote Island, speaking to Fairfax Media, said the second boat was adrift: "They were rescued by the locals, because the boat engines were dead. The boat now is wreckage, near some reefs." 

The Australian government had also planned to purchase additional lifeboats for refugee expulsion from Australian waters, Fairfax Media reported.

Australian government originally had no response, but after protests by  and the , Tony Abbott commented. Last Thursday, he supported lack of transparency on the issue by saying "I'd rather be criticised a bit for being a bit of a closed book on the issue, and actually stop the boats. I'm pleased to say that it's now several weeks since we've had a boat, and the less we talk about operational details on the water, the better when it comes to stopping the boats."

Defence Force chief David Hurley also claimed professional behaviour of board officers and the Navy when handling arriving refugees boats.

 chief General Moeldoko said according to the , and an  spokesperson confirmed, that they agreed on the push-backs approach mid-December with no further comment; with Mr Abbot calling the relationship "very strong", while Indonesia's legal and security affairs minister  and foreign affairs minister  both disapproved of the approach.  General Moeldoko reportedly later said the media had misreported him.

The United Nations  (UNRA) was seeking explanation from the Australian government, it reported in a press briefing this Saturday. The UNRA spokesperson, Babar Baloch, raised legal concerns by saying that "Any such approach would raise significant issues and potentially could place Australia in breach of its obligations under the  and international law. If people who are in need for international protection seek a country's safety, then they must be allowed to go through a process which helps to determine if these people are in need."

Marke, another self-identified Somali asylum seeker, claimed earlier similar treatment, on December 10: that the Australian Navy — HMAS ''Parramatta'' and  — had claimed Christmas Island destination, towed his boat for several days, and subsequently dropped at an undisclosed location.


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