Asylum seekers in limbo off Indonesia

The Australian Customs vessel anchored off Indonesia's Bintan Island with 78 asylum
seekers aboard has been refused permission to offload its human cargo by the
island's governor.
As Labor and the opposition on Tuesday questioned each other's moral standing over
the treatment of asylum seekers, the Indonesian governor responsible for the island
said the Oceanic Viking would not be allowed to dock.
The development comes as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd refused to guarantee that
children among the group would not be detained behind razor wire if taken to the
Tanjung Pinang immigration detention centre on the island.
The Oceanic Viking was on Tuesday evening still anchored 10 nautical miles off
Bintan, after the governor of the Riau Islands Ismeth Abdullah said he had no
instructions to accept the asylum seekers.
"We ban the Australian vessel carrying 78 Sri Lankan migrants from coming ashore at
Kijang port. We order the navy and the police to enforce this," he said, AFP
reported.
"Unless there's an order from the president, the ship cannot come ashore. We're not
a dumping ground for other countries."
Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said the central
government was "discussing" the matter with the provincial government and was not
sure how long it would take to resolve.
"This is not a problem but there's a dialogue that needs to be solved," he told AAP.
"Local governments are now more independent, they have more authority in their
territory.
"We're not calling it a negotiation, more like conveying our point of view, making
them understand of what we're doing."
The group was rescued more than a week ago by an Australian navy vessel in
Indonesia's search and rescue zone, before being transferred to the Oceanic Viking.
They were initially to be unloaded at Merak, western Java but were later diverted
about 900km north to Bintan Island.
The refusal to allow the vessel to dock means the group, which has already been
aboard the Oceanic Viking for nine days, remain in limbo.
A spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said the Australian
government had not been informed of any changes to the arrangement.
"Our position is that we have at the most senior government to government levels an
agreement between Indonesia and Australia that the passengers rescued at sea will be
housed in temporary accommodation at Tanjung Pinang," he said.
"We don't have any information to suggest that has changed."
The group of asylum seekers, which includes five women and five children, was
expected to be housed in the heavily-guarded detention centre.
Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop on Tuesday asked Mr Rudd whether he thought
the government had a moral responsibility to ensure children aboard the Oceanic
Viking "would not be detained behind bars" at Tanjung Pinang.
Mr Rudd refused to offer such a guarantee, instead accusing the opposition as being
the "party of children behind razor wire".
"As for the proper treatment of asylum seekers anywhere in the world, and including
Indonesia, we would expect that in consultation with the UNHCR and IOM
(International Organisation for Migration), that proper conditions are provided for
the treatment of asylum seekers," Mr Rudd told parliament.
The prime minister then launched a stinging attack on the opposition, singling out
former coalition immigration ministers Kevin Andrews and Philip Ruddock.
Mr Rudd said Labor cooperated with the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) "in
fundamental contrast with the culture of non-cooperation" on the part of the former
Howard government.
He said this was especially the case with Mr Ruddock and Mr Andrews "who prided
themselves on sitting outside the framework of international (conventions)".
Mr Ruddock responded, describing the comments as a "very serious reflection on my
integrity in relation to refugee issues", while Mr Andrews said they were offensive
and demanded Mr Rudd with withdraw the remarks.
Earlier, Mr Rudd told caucus the coalition was once again involved in dog-whistle
politics over the asylum-seeker issue.
"It is important we calmly and factually dissect their argument," he told the meeting.