There's confusion amongst asylum seekers over Australia's new hardline asylum policy, according to Dateline video journalist David O'Shea, but many are still prepared to get on boats to try and get to Australia.
He travels to Indonesia for tonight's program at 9.30pm on SBS ONE to find out if the government's message is getting through to those already on their way.
“Absolute confusion with a healthy dose of despair” is how he describes the feeling in one of the groups of Afghan Hazaras he spoke to.
“They're not particularly prepared to spend the rest of their days in Papua New Guinea,” he explains, “but maybe that is better than sitting around in Indonesia, where they cannot work, they cannot study, they cannot lead an effective and productive, fruitful life.”
Others told him that the Australian Government's policy has changed so many times, they just don't believe they'll end up in Papua New Guinea permanently.
“We'll spend a bit of time there,” they told David, “and the government will change their minds again and we'll get to Australia.”
David also showed the Australian government's advert to one group of Iranians, who'd already survived an attempt to reach Australia when their boat sank.
“When they saw the newspaper advertisement from the Australian government, there was this complete confusion,” he says. “They believed that the message wasn't in fact from the Australian government, but was from the Iranian government.”
Even a representative of the influential Foreign Affairs Commission in the Indonesian parliament didn't understand the new policy, believing that asylum seekers would reach Australia after being processed in PNG.
“It seems to me unusual and surprising that someone in such an influential position… has missed the point so dramatically,” David says.
See his full story on tonight's Dateline at 9.30pm on SBS ONE, and read more now on the Dateline website.
CRUNCH TIME: DAVID O'SHEA EXTENDED INTERVIEW
