Outsourcing refugee processing to Indonesia abhorrent

Australian Greens Senator Kerry Nettle condemned the government's plans to outsource refugee processing to Indonesia as abhorrent and a breach of Australia's responsibilities under the United Nations Refugee Convention.

"Minister Andrews should cancel his trip to Indonesia and abandon the idea of outsourcing refugee processing there," said Senator Kerry Nettle.

"As a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention we have a responsibility to assess asylum seekers and accept genuine refugees. Not only does this proposal shirk those responsibilities, but it actively undermines the Refugee Convention.

"Indonesia is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention. There can be no guarantee that asylum seekers will not be returned to places of persecution.

"This government's dirty secret is that it has contracted the International Migration Organisation (IOM) to look after hundreds of returned asylum seekers on the island of Lombok for years.

"Answers to Questions on Notice that I lodged revealed that Australia had paid IOM at least $14 million to keep people in Indonesia, many of whom were 'pushed back' to Indonesia during the months after Tampa.

"The 'Pacific Solution' seems to be morphing into the South East Asian Solution, which is a disturbing development.

"The Greens call for an end to mandatory detention and for all asylum seekers to be processed on mainland Australia while living in the community."