Australian authorities have said 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers in Indonesia will not be taken to Australia, their intended destination. The ethnic Tamil asylum seekers have spent 10 days on an Australian customs ship in Indonesian waters. Indonesia agreed last week to take the group to have their claims examined, but local officials are refusing to allow the Australian vessel to dock. Australia has been faced with a sharp increase in asylum seekers this year. On Oct. 27, an Indonesian provincial governor stopped the Australian customs vessel Oceanic Viking from docking on Bintan Island, near Singapore. He said the island was not a "dumping ground" for refugees. (BBC)
Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).