250 Tamil Refugees who spent the past 8 wks refusing to leave their rickety cargo boat say, Indo-navy is trying to scare them into coming ashore..!!!

Lankan asylum seekers say ‘Indonesian navy scaring us’

The nearly 250 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who have spent the past eight weeks refusing to leave their rickety cargo boat believe the Indonesian navy is trying to scare them into coming ashore, the Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday.
The group's spokesman Sanjeev "Alex" Kuhendrarajah said that early on Thursday morning navy officers tried to board the boat, moored in the west Javan port of Merak.

"Since then, many boats have surrounded us. The Indonesian government claims it's only an exercise and there's no threat to us. We believe they're making false claims and they were trying to do something. Are they trying to intimidate us? Are they trying to pressure us into retaliating? Because we will not retaliate, we are peaceful people, we will continue with our stand,” Alex told AAP.

The Tamils who were intercepted by the Indonesian navy en route to Australia in October, do not want to come ashore because they fear they will be sent to an Indonesian detention centre and forced to wait for years for resettlement.

The Indonesian navy declined to comment on Thursday's movements, directing questions to the Immigration Ministry but it could not be contacted. Australian refugee advocates called on the Rudd government and the International Organisation of Migration to intervene to guarantee the asylum seekers' safety.

"The Indonesian navy is either preparing to remove people from the boat or is intimidating a vulnerable people," said Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition.

"Kevin Rudd must guarantee their safety. They must be treated like the Tamils on the Oceanic Viking and promised re-settlement in Australia," Mr. Rintoul said.(Sydney Morning Herald)

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