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Indonesian navy chief says asylum seekers should be able to choose
The head of Indonesia's navy says every refugee boat encountered in Indonesian waters should be allowed to continue to its destination.
The navy chief of staff, Admiral Indroko Sastrowiryono, was quoted by the state Antara news agency as saying it was the asylum seekers right to be allowed to continue to their chosen destination.
He also said that if a refugee boat needed immediate care, the vessel would be towed to the nearest port.
Each year thousands of Middle Eastern asylum seekers, mainly from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, use Indonesia as a staging post for making perilous journeys in dilapidated boats to Australia.
Australia has been pressing Indonesia to prevent the boats setting out and to arrest and deport the asylum seekers, but Indonesian authorities complain that their resources are limited.
Jakarta is reluctant to hold the asylum seekers because even those who are granted refugee status end up stranded in Indonesia for months or years on end, waiting for a third country to accept them.
31/10/01 9:20:13 | ABC Radio Australia News
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