The Indonesian and Australian governments agreed to strengthen cooperation in the areas of immigration, refugee management, and regional security.
In a bilateral meeting with the Australian Minister for Home Affairs in Canberra, Australia, on Monday, 23rd of June, the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, expressed his appreciation for various strategic proposals that demonstrated concrete steps for this cooperation.
Furthermore, he conveyed his intention to propose the establishment of a secure and real-time information exchange mechanism, particularly regarding key actors, funding flows, and digital platforms utilised by smuggling networks.
“On behalf of the Indonesian government, we express our appreciation to the Australian government for the swift and detailed intelligence related to human smuggling networks that use Indonesian territory as a transit route,” Mahendra said, as quoted from the press on the following Tuesday.
Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, responded positively to Mahendra’s statement.
“I am committed to fostering closer cooperation between Australia and Indonesia in the fields of law, immigration, refugee management, and security,” Burke said, as well.
The cooperation between the two countries has grown stronger and expanded into more diverse areas in recent times. For example, the Australian Embassy in Indonesia, in collaboration with the Indonesian public research university Bandung Institute of Technology, officially opened a reading corner named #AussieBanget Corner at the campus library in Bandung, West Java, on Tuesday. #AussieBanget Corner was designed as a space for students to explore books and resources about Australia, while also providing information about study and scholarship opportunities in Australia.
Additionally, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Australia Indonesia Association (AIA), the International Relations Study Programme and the Australian Studies Centre of Jakarta-based private university UNAS, in collaboration with AIA, held an international seminar entitled “History of Relations between Australia and Indonesia: 1940s to Present” on the previous Thursday (19th of June).
“The relationship between Indonesia and Australia has developed through cooperation and mutual respect, not only in politics and economics, but also in education and cultural exchange,” said Vice Chancellor for Research, Community Service, and Cooperation of UNAS, Prof. Dr. Ernawati Sinaga, M.S., Apt.