 |
Asylum seekers from Sri Lanka hold banners and the national flag of New Zealand on a ship in Tanjung Pinang, Bintan island, Riau, Indonesia yesterday.
At least 87 Sri Lankan asylum seekers, apparently on their way to New Zealand, have been detained by Indonesian police and are refusing to abandon the ship. Almost two years after a six-month stand-off involving 254 Sri Lankan asylum seekers stopped from heading to Australia, a large group of refugees intercepted on their way to New Zealand are refusing to leave their ship. Officials from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) were in negotiations with 87 Sri Lankan asylum seekers intercepted by Indonesian authorities on Saturday night.