Refugees demand Indonesian passage to Australia

Around 120 asylum seekers demanded on Tuesday that Indonesia provide a vessel to allow them to continue to Australia, refusing to leave a tanker that rescued them at sea, an official said. The tanker sailing from Australia to Singapore picked up the asylum seekers, all men and mostly Afghans and some Iranians, in Indonesian waters on Sunday. "Until now, the asylum seekers are still refusing to get off the tanker before their requests are fulfilled," said Yanuar, an immigration official in Indonesia's Cilegon city, where the boat is docked at the port of Merak. "They requested that Indonesia facilitate their journey to Australia, and provide a vessel to get there," said the official, who goes by one name. "We gave them food last night (Monday), but we haven't assessed their health condition yet," said Banten province maritime police chief Budi Hermawan. The Singapore-flagged MT Hermia rescued the asylum seekers from a sinking wooden vessel in the Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra islands, and took them to Merak. Some of the men cried and screamed hysterically on Monday as Indonesian police and immigration officials boarded the tanker and tried to pull some off the vessel. Some of the men said on Monday they would refuse to disembark unless they were granted asylum in Australia. In 2009, more than 200 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers refused to get off a boat docked at Merak in a six-month standoff with Indonesian authorities, demanding to go to Australia. They were not granted asylum, while around 80 other Sri Lankans rescued at the same time by an Australian customs vessel were granted a special resettlement deal by the Australian government. In December, a boat carrying around 250 mostly Afghan and Iranian asylum seekers sank in Indonesian waters en route to Australia's Christmas Island, with only 47 surviving. Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention and often jails asylum seekers awaiting refugee status. Asylum seekers are a hot political issue in Australia and dominated national elections in 2010 due to a record number of boat arrivals from Asia.