Jakarta offers help for Sri Lankan asylum seekers

Indonesia has said it is willing to provide transit accommodation for 83 Sri Lankan asylum seekers being returned home by Australian authorities, a government spokesman was quoted Monday as saying.

"We are open (to taking the asylum seekers) as long as it is just in transit in preparation to send them back to Sri Lanka," Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Desra Percaya was quoted by English daily The Jakarta Post as saying.

He confirmed that also on board the ship intercepted by the Australian Navy were two Indonesian crew.

Desra, who is also the director of international security and disarmament at the ministry, said Jakarta and Canberra had been in contact to discuss the matter.

Another official at the ministry said that representatives of both countries were still negotiating the details of the plan, such as where the 83 would stay, for how long, and who would pay the associated costs.

Asylum seekers are a sensitive issue for Australia and Indonesia.

In March last year, Jakarta recalled its ambassador from Canberra after temporary protection visas were given to 42 of 43 Papuans who landed by boat on the northern coast of Australia in January.

Source: Xinhua