Australia to ensure asylum seekers disembark in Indonesia

Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Tuesday that Australia was committed to ensuring the 78 asylum seekers rescued at sea would disembark in Indonesia.

The asylum seekers aboard the Oceanic Viking are still refusing to disembark, more than two weeks after the Australian Customs vessel arrived off the island of Bintan.

"We made an agreement with Indonesia that we would disembark the people rescued at sea in Indonesia, we are still committed to that course," Gillard told Sky News.

The government matter would be dealt with "patiently and methodically" but it was a complex and challenging issue, she said.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith is currently in Sri Lanka and has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Sri Lankan authorities to strengthen co-operation to investigate and prosecute people smugglers.

Asked about the MOU and whether it would stop asylum seekers seeking refuge, Gillard said "the important thing in Sri Lanka is the government has won the war, now they need to win the peace".

And that involves the Tamil community as well, she added.

The Australian government was also committed to ensuring that people engaged in people smuggling were brought to justice.

"Those crimes happen overseas and people make the arrangements overseas with people smugglers, we therefore need international co-operation to crack down on people smuggling and that's what Stephen Smith has achieved in this agreement with Sri Lanka," Gillard said.

Source: Xinhua