Asylum-seekers claim Australian navy blew up their boat

Asylum-seekers who washed ashore in Indonesia have claimed the Australian navy blew up their vessel after forcing the would-be refugees into a lifeboat and turning them back to Java, police said on Wednesday.

Indonesian police found the orange lifeboat and 26 asylum-seekers on Monday on the island of Java’s south coast. The would-be refugees said they were turned around attempting to reach the Australian territory of Christmas Island.

After setting off from the port of Pelabuhan Ratu in southern Java, they were intercepted by the Australian navy entering Australian waters and transferred to the lifeboat, police said.

Australia has purchased the lifeboats as part of its military-led operation to stem the influx of would-be refugees by returning them to Indonesia, a policy that has angered Jakarta.

After putting the asylum-seekers in the lifeboat, the navy destroyed their vessel, Wasidi, police spokesman in Kebumen district where the stranded boat was found, said.

“After they transferred the migrants to the Australian ship, the wooden boat they took from Pelabuhan Ratu was then blown up by the Australian navy,” said the spokesman, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

Wasidi said the boat’s Indonesian crew, who have also been detained, had given him the accounts.