"The handling of Indonesian non-adult citizens detained by the Australian authorities is now far better, more systematic because there have been orderly and planned measures," he said after welcoming his Australian counterpart, Kevin Rudd, at his office here on Monday.
He said among the measures taken were assuring the release of underage detainees. With regard to domestic interests he said he would conduct familiarization among community members.
"According to a report from Kevin Rudd, 19 Indonesian detainees have been returned home, 16 moved and three others are still being processed in court to know if they are adults or children," he said.
He said the essence was that there was now a clear mechanism for dealing with the problem.
"Ahead we will work hard and ensure that cases like these will not recur in the future. The teenagers were only deceived and that`s how they got involved in human smuggling," he said.
According to data of the foreign ministry, 40 male Indonesian teenagers are now being held in adult prisons in Australia for involvement in human smuggling cases.
It was believed the teenagers had been employed as crew of the boats that carried illegal immigrants from Indonesia to Australia.
The case of Indonesian teenagers being held in adult prisons was uncovered following the detention of three teenagers from Rote Island some time ago. The three have since been released. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
