Boat issue testing Indonesia's patience

Indonesia has warned "there is a limit" to its patience over the Oceanic Viking
asylum seeker impasse.
The 78 Tamil asylum seekers are still refusing to leave the Australian customs ship
moored off the Indonesian island of Bintan for the past 10 days.
Australian officials are working to persuade the asylum seekers - rescued from
Indonesia's search and rescue zone - to voluntarily leave the ship and enter
detention in Tanjung Pinang, Bintan's main town.
But an Indonesian deadline means the Oceanic Viking may be forced to leave on
Friday, unless Indonesia grants a second extension.
A high-level meeting between Australian and Indonesian officials in Jakarta on
Tuesday failed to come up with a solution to the impasse, Indonesian foreign
ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said.
"On that particular issue it really depends very much on the progress Australia can
make," he told AAP.
"You must resolve your own problems on board the vessel."
Indonesia remained flexible and patient, he said before adding: "But there is a limit."
Australia has not yet asked for another extension, Faizasyah said.
"We are very much hoping that we can find resolution prior to the deadline.
"The sixth of November is our expectation for this to be resolved."
Officials did make progress on how to deal with future asylum seeker vessels, he
said but declined to give details, saying negotiations were "delicate".
Australian Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said Australian and Indonesian
authorities were having "productive discussions" about the stalemate.
"We want to ensure that we realise the agreement reached between the two countries
and we want to do it in a way that is patient, dignified and orderly," he told ABC
Radio on Wednesday.
"There are issues and sticking points on the vessel itself ... and we want to deal
with this in a way that will result in the peaceful transfer of these passengers
onto Indonesian soil."
Mr O'Connor admitted the situation was "getting difficult" for those on board the
boat, but said they were being treated well.
"There has been a change of crew, all passengers on board are being well fed, well
looked after and there's plenty of amenities for them," he said.
The Greens meanwhile are accusing Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of being "all at sea" in
his handling of the asylum seeker issue.
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the government and the federal opposition should be
taking a bipartisan approach by developing an "Australian solution" to boat
arrivals.
She said Mr Rudd had not driven the agenda in the way a prime minister should.
"Unfortunately, the prime minister has been all at sea on this issue," Senator
Hanson-Young said.
"He hasn't injected the necessary sanity into the debate that would help deliver a
practical, long-term and humane solution."
She said part of that solution had to be an increase in Australia's intake of
refugees on humanitarian grounds.
Senator Hanson-Young said the government should bring the boat back to Australia to
allow the claims of those on board to be assessed.
But she said she feared that would not happen and that they would be forcibly
removed at some stage.