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Aussies Treading Water on Refugees
October 29, 2009

The Oceanic Viking lies anchored off Tanjung Pinang Island in Riau province. (Photo: Roslan Rahman, AFP) The Oceanic Viking lies anchored off Tanjung Pinang Island in Riau province. (Photo: Roslan Rahman, AFP)
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Amilitary spokesman said on Thursday that the Australian government should recall its customs service vessel, the MV Oceanic Viking, which has been moored about 14 kilometers off a Riau Islands port for 11 days with 78 Sri Lankan refugees onboard.

“I wonder why the vessel, which intercepted the asylum seekers near Christmas Island, carried them into Indonesian waters?” Air Vice Marshall Sagom Tamboen said. “[The refugees] only want asylum in Australia. It’s as if [the Australian government] are trying to shift responsibility to other countries.”

Indonesian authorities have given security clearance to the vessel as a sign of cooperation with the Australian government, but the clearance officially expires on Friday.

“The asylum seekers do not want to be in Indonesia, they keep stressing that they want to be in Australia,” Tamboen said.

The Indonesian government wants to perform identity checks on all the Sri Lankan asylum seekers before they disembark. However, the refugees have so far refused to cooperate with Indonesian authorities.

“The problem is that the security clearance will expire, which means they must leave Indonesia,” Tamboen said.

“The Australian government should immediately order the ship to return to their country. If they force the passengers to get out of the vessel, it could be labeled as torture.”

Asked about the possibility that Indonesian authorities — including members of the military — were involved in smuggling people to Australia, Tamboen said the government was committed to preventing its personnel from engaging in such activity.

“If any officers were involved and were caught then they will face punishment,” he said.

The Australian government has applied for an extension of security clearance for the Oceanic Viking, and the military — along with the Transportation Ministry and the Defense Ministry — are still considering whether to approve or deny it.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry has already filed a diplomatic protest with the Australian government dealing with the Oceanic Viking carrying asylum seekers to Indonesia, with the message that Indonesia would not be willing to accept similar cases in the future.

Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said that if the Sri Lankans kept rejecting inspections, the vessel and the asylum seekers would be expelled from Indonesian waters by Friday.

“Without such a procedure, we cannot accept the refugees here. We must be sure that they are healthy enough to live in Indonesia,” he said. Markus Junianto Sihaloho