Lombok’s Forgotten Asylum Seekers
Rallies have been held around the country today to bring 92 asylum seekers being held in Lombok, Indonesia, to Australia. One detainee has alleged a boatload of asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam were intercepted by the Australian navy near Ashmore Reef in 2001, and left to die at sea. Four years later, they are still being kept at arms length from the Australian Government in Lombok. Questions have been raised about whose responsibility they should be. The Wire’s Alex Parry asked Tim Petterson from the Refugee Action Collective how long they can expect to stay there. The International Office of Migration is being funded by the government to look after the asylum seekers. IOM Regional Representative Dennis Nihill says the asylum seekers have no rights to claim refugee status because they never reached Australian soil.