Indonesia has appealed to Australia to accept more refugees stranded in Indonesia ahead of a regional forum to combat people smuggling in Bali next week.
Indonesia's director-general of immigration, Ronny Sompie, told The Jakarta Post that Indonesia's 13 immigration detention centres were overcrowded as the number of "illegal migrants" had increased more than five-fold over the past seven years. 
The United Nations' refugee agency, the UNHCR, also called on Australia to lift its ban on accepting refugees who arrived in Indonesia after   June 2014, saying the global refugee crisis was making it increasingly difficult to find resettlement countries. "We hope Australia will consider increasing its take of the refugees, although we know they will apply a very selective process before accepting them," Mr Ronny said.
He said he would extend the appeal to Australia at the upcoming Bali Process, which will be attended by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton on   March 23.
As of   January there were 13,679 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR in Indonesia, many of whom have been stuck in transit for years.
Australia resettled 808 refugees from Indonesia in 2013, according to UNHCR figures. This dropped to 526 in 2014 and 425 in 2015.
Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention and refugees cannot legally work there while waiting for resettlement in a third country.
Former immigration minister Scott Morrison announced in   November 2014 that Australia's annual intake from Indonesia would be cut from 600 to 450 and anyone arriving after   July 1, 2014, would be ineligible.
The UNHCR's representative in Indonesia, Thomas Vargas, said this meant Australia would not take the Rohingyas who reached Indonesia after fleeing persecution in Myanmar during the refugee and trafficking crisis last year.
"We are grateful for those (refugees) they are taking but unfortunately that doesn't help people who come after   June 2014," Mr Vargas said. "We are encouraging Australia to revisit that and for all countries to take a more lenient approach to ensuring there is more responsibility sharing."
A spokeswoman for Mr Dutton said Australia was in the top three countries for the resettlement of refugees on a per capita basis.