Sri Lankans vow to head for Australia if boat towed out by Indonesia By Jewel Topsfield in Jakarta Sri Lankans on board a boat marooned in Indonesia for more than a week insist they will continue their journey to Australia if their boat is escorted back into international waters as planned by Indonesian authorities. 
The 44 Sri Lankans, who were stranded in Aceh Besar on   June 11 when their boat developed engine trouble, were scheduled to be taken by bus to a nearby port in Lhoknga, and then escorted out of Indonesian territory.
"The last thing we want to see is for governments to turn boats back into the open sea where it could be very dangerous for people who have been through so much already," said the UNHCR's Indonesia representative Thomas Vargas. Mr Vargas said the UNHCR had requested access to the Sri Lankans at all levels of government but it had so far been denied.
The Geutanyoe Foundation, an Aceh-based humanitarian organisation, said many of the Sri Lankans had refugee identity cards issued by the government of Tamil Nadu, one of the 29 states of India.
"On World Refugee Day, which falls on   June 20, we once again call on the government of Indonesia to grant immediate and unhindered access to [the UN refugee agency] UNHCR to meet the Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers," it said.
One of the Sri Lankans, 25-year-old Sehuda, said they would continue to Australia because they could not get citizenship in India. She said they wanted to go to Australia "for a better life and to earn money" and had paid their leader 50,000 "Indian money" (rupees) - the equivalent of $1000 - for a place on the boat.
The Geutanyoe Foundation said during the past two months there had been a renewed crackdown by the military in northern Sri Lanka, and this had further deterred Sri Lankan refugees in India from returning to Sri Lanka. "The fact there are a large number of women and young children ... indicates strongly that they are seeking asylum, not only seeking employment, as has been suggested by several Indonesian observers," it said.
The foundation also warned that Australia had tough policies designed to prevent asylum seekers reaching its shores, including towing boats back to sea.
The Sri Lankans, who include a seven-month-old baby and a pregnant woman, were allowed to temporarily disembark on the beach at Lhoknga in Aceh Besar at 4am on Saturday, after storms tilted their boat at a 75-degree angle. This followed a tense stand-off between the Sri Lankans and Indonesian authorities, who had previously refused to allow anyone to disembark because they did not have travel documents or passports.
Last Thursday police fired a warning shot to "take control of the situation" after five Sri Lankan women, who had earlier called for a doctor to see a sick child and mimed pointing a gun to their temples, clambered ashore and sat on the beach.
Indonesian Navy Commander Kicky Salvachdie said: "The Teluk Sibolga navy ship will escort the boat to our border. After that it's up to them."
House of Representatives member Nasir Jamil, who met the Sri Lankans, said they had asked for a new ship to continue their journey.
With Amilia Rosa