SYDNEY: A people-smuggling boat carrying about 80 asylum-seekers was in distress and reportedly taking on water in seas south of Indonesia, Australian officials said yesterday.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said two merchant vessels and a navy ship were steaming towards the scene, 42 nautical miles south of the Indonesian island of Java.
It said someone on the ship had called rescue authorities to report that they were in trouble.
The authority was unable to say whether the boat was sinking.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd met Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta and both backed talks with originating countries to try to stem a tide of asylum-seeker boats staging perilous journeys to Australia, an issue that looms large at upcoming elections in Australia.
Rudd has already drawn Indonesia into the domestic debate, pouring scorn on conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott and his plan to “turn back” the boats, saying this risks a diplomatic flare-up with Jakarta.
AFP
