The impacts of Australian policies on boat people towards its bilateral relations with Indonesia: an analysis of Indonesia's territorial sovereignty

Abstract

Australia is one of the destination countries for the asylum seekers. On the other hand, Indonesia is geographically located close to Australia. Therefore, many of these asylum seekers who come by sea cross Indonesian waters to Australia. Following the increasing number of Irregular Maritime Arrivals (IMAs), the Australian government has established and implemented various policies, one of which is through Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB) policy. However, these policies also affected Indonesia, one of which was a violation of Indonesia's territorial sovereignty by Australian Navy during the operation of policy. The research conducted in this study is qualitative and carried out through the literature review, also information from mass media which contains various latest information about Indonesia-Australia relations and Australian policies. Moreover, various information is obtained through correspondence and direct interviews with related parties. This research is on-going because various events and policies are dynamic and various policy changes occur throughout the duration of the study. As an example of this change, at the beginning of the study, Indonesia did not have a law that regulates policies towards asylum seekers, then at the end of 2016 the Indonesian government issued a Presidential Decree No 125 of 2016 regarding the handling of asylum seekers and refugees from abroad. Basically, the violation committed by Australian Navy is contrary to the norms in international law as well as Indonesian national law regarding the sovereignty and national borders. However, in the context of the bilateral relations between the two countries after the incident Australian Navy breached Indonesian territory, in the end it did not have too much impact. Based on the research and analysis conducted, the existence interdependence is more dominant between the two countries. While from the side of asylum seekers and refugees, the application of this policy resulted in the vulnerability of refugees being victims of human rights violations. This can be seen in several cases that happened to asylum seekers and refugees placed in detention in the third country outside Australia.