Canberra – Australia tried to soothe ties with Indonesia on Monday after granting asylum to 42 boat people from the country's troubled Papua province and as media reported more Papuans were heading to Australia.
About 100 protesters gathered outside Australia's embassy in Jakarta on Monday to object to Canberra's decision last week to recognise the Papuans as refugees despite Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asking for the group be returned.
Indonesia recalled its ambassador in Australia last week and described the visa decision as disappointing and deplorable.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer was at pains to make it clear the decision was made in accordance with international and Australian law and that Canberra still recognised Indonesia's sovereignty over Papua.
"Indonesia has shown it can resolve its own problems in its own way through dialogue. They did that in Aceh and I'm sure that the government of Indonesia will endeavour to do the same thing in Papua," Downer told parliament on Monday. "We will do what we can to ensure (our) close friendship continues," he said.
But The Australian newspaper reported that a steady stream of students from Papua were already making their way to Australia to claim asylum, in a move the newspaper said would put Canberra in a "diabolical position".
"Even if it manages to intercept them, and house them in an offshore facility while their claims are processed, it will be extremely difficult to avoid major damage to the relationship with Indonesia," Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan wrote.
Howard, who has said Australia's ties with Indonesia would not be broken by the Papua issue, has told reporters the Immigration Department's decision was not a green light for illegal immigrants.
He said Australia's successful policy, developed in 2001, of intercepting boatloads of asylum seekers at sea and turning them away would not be changed. The controversial policy has stemmed a flow of illegal immigrants often organised by people smugglers.
Papua's police spokesman Kartono Wangsadisastra dismissed on Monday the reports that more Papuans were fleeing as "all lies".
The Papuan refugees sailed for five days to reach Australia in a traditional outrigger with a banner accusing the Indonesian military of conducting genocide in their homeland.
Papuan independence activists have campaigned for more than 30 years to break away from Indonesia while a low-level armed rebellion has also simmered. Human rights groups accuse the Indonesian military of widespread abuses there.
Indonesian authorities deny that, and recent regional elections in Papua and companion province West Irian Jaya, which shares Indonesia's part of the island of New Guinea, went relatively smoothly and peacefully.
But four policemen and one soldier were killed earlier this month in the Papua capital Jayapura in clashes with protesters demanding the closure of a US mining operation in the province.
[Additional reporting by Diyan Jari and Achmad Sukarsono in Jakarta]