Sri Lankan refugees are transferred by dinghy to Indonesian ferries from the Australian customs vessel Oceanic Viking near Tamborah Laut. (Photo: Vivek Prakash, Reuters)

Sri Lankans Leave Australian Ship for Detention, Processing in Riau Islands

Tanjung Pinang, Riau Islands. Dozens of Sri Lankan asylum seekers left the Australian customs ship they had refused to leave for three weeks on Wednesday, ending a standoff over their claims of refugee status.

The ethnic Tamil migrants were seen being ferried away from the ship, the MV Oceanic Viking, amid heavy rain and high waves off Bintan Island.

The standoff has fueled an intense refugee debate in Australia and piled pressure on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to stem the flow of so-called boat people through Indonesia, amid a sharp increase in arrivals this year.

Police said all 56 migrants on board the Oceanic Viking had left the ship, after weeks of negotiations with Australian officials, who reportedly offered to expedite their asylum claims.

“We have done customs verifications and medical check-ups on all 56 migrants on the Oceanic Viking,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said.

He said they would be housed at an Australian-funded immigration detention center in the Riau Islands capital, Tanjung Pinang, while their refugee claims were verified.

The migrants are the remainder of a group of 78 Sri Lankans rescued at sea from their sinking boat by the Australian vessel in Indonesia’s search-and-rescue zone last month, as they attempted the dangerous crossing to Australia.

The group had refused to come ashore in Indonesia, saying they wanted to be taken to Australia.

An initial group of 22 asylum seekers, including 15 who had already been found to be refugees, left the ship last week after receiving assurances they would be quickly resettled abroad.

They say they face persecution at home, where a decades-long civil war pitting ethnic Tamil separatists against the Sri Lankan government ended this year.



Agence France-Presse

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