Hard line ... Immigration Minister Scott Morrison can expect questions about whether the Australian navy loaded three asylum seekers from a boat that was turned around in February.
Hard line ... Immigration Minister Scott Morrison can
expect questions about whether the Australian navy loaded three asylum
seekers from a boat that was turned around in February. Photo: Andrew Meares










The asylum seeker boat that allegedly deterred Tony Abbott
from meeting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono this week has
been found in Indonesia after the Australian navy reportedly put three
extra people on board and then turned it back.




People on board the wooden boat have told authorities in
Indonesia that the Australian navy loaded two Albanians and one
Indonesian onto the boat before sending it back to a remote island in
eastern Indonesia.






An asylum seeker boat carrying refugees arrives on Christmas Island on November 20, 2012. The Australian navy has escorted eight boats back to Indonesian waters since December 19, 2013.
An asylum seeker boat carrying refugees arrives on
Christmas Island on November 20, 2012. The Australian navy has escorted
eight boats back to Indonesian waters since December 19, 2013.







There is no further information about the extra passengers,
but there is speculation that they may be the two asylum seekers who
were taken to Christmas Island for “urgent medical treatment” after
another tow-back operation in February. The third may be an Indonesian
crew member.




If the two were medically treated on Australian soil then
loaded onto the next available boat to be pushed back to Indonesia, it
would represent a controversial new turn in Australia’s tow-back policy.



Fairfax Media has sought comment from Immigration Minister Scott Morrison.






Asylum seekers are transported to Christmas Island in March, 2013.
Asylum seekers are transported to Christmas Island in March, 2013. Photo: Wolter Peeters






A statement released by the Indonesian navy late on Monday
night said 18 asylum seekers — 16 Indians and two Nepalese — had set out
on April 26 from South Sulawesi. They were intercepted by Operation
Sovereign Borders vessels on May 1 near Ashmore Reef, an Australian
territory in the ocean west of Darwin.



The asylum seekers told the Indonesian naval officers the
Australian vessels then escorted their wooden boat closer to Indonesia
where, on Sunday, the three extra men — two Albanians and an Indonesian —
were put on board.



The wooden boat was then left on the ocean and directed
towards Indonesian territory. It ran out of fuel at an island in
Indonesia’s remote eastern province, where the men were stranded, then
found by Indonesian navy personnel.






There is speculation that Tony Abbott cancelled a trip to meet Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to prevent embarrassment over the latest asylum boat incident.
There is speculation that Tony Abbott cancelled a
trip to meet Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to prevent
embarrassment over the latest asylum boat incident. Photo: AFP






It is the eighth confirmed Australian turn-back operation since the first boat arrived on December 19.



In early February, about 34 refugees from Iran, Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Nepal were returned in one of Australia’s unsinkable
orange lifeboats. Those people said that two of their number had been
ill and had been taken away by the Australian navy.



Immigration Minister Scott Morrison confirmed that two people
had been taken to Christmas Island with health issues, one at least for
“urgent medical treatment with a heart condition”.



No further information about the two has been released.



Mr Abbott had made plans to accept the invitation of the
Indonesian president to meet on the sidelines of an “open government”
conference in Bali this week to try to smooth tensions over recent
spying revelations.



However, Mr Abbott cancelled those plans late on Friday,
citing the pre-budget period and the release of the Commission of Audit.
The Indonesian president’s spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Dr Yudhoyono
accepted that explanation at face value.



The arrival of this boat, however, raises the question about
whether the real reason for the cancellation was to save embarrassment
on both sides.