There is, again, a refugeecrisis brewing on the high seas to Australia’s north, but it hasn’t been getting the same attention as those in the past.
When there was a refugee crisis to the country’s north in the past, most of the time Australian governments saw it as their problem.
Unlike other cohorts of refugees in the past, most of the Rohingyas are not trying to get to Australia. As members of the Bali Process meet for the first time in five years next month, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is calling on them to activate emergency mechanisms including search and rescue missions to respond to the crisis.The Bali Process, the brainchild of the Howard government and set up in 2002 to combat people smuggling, has 49 members and is co-chaired by Australia and Indonesia.
Asked why it was not triggering the emergency mechanisms created in 2016, a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Australia and Indonesia “closely engage the region on people smuggling issues as co-chairs of the Bali Process”. “It’s perplexing to me as to why we’re not utilising those processes – given Australian officials played a pivotal role in getting them established,” he says.
In November Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced Australia would commit an extra $135 million contribution in 2022-23 towards the humanitarian response in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
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