Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has admitted he does not know the status of 78 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers aboard an Australian customs vessel in Indonesian waters.
The ethnic Tamils, who are refusing to leave the Oceanic Viking, have reportedly been living in Indonesia for years.
Citing written messages thrown off the ship, Fairfax newspapers reported group members as saying they had been in Indonesia for up to five years, and had been accepted by Jakarta's United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office as genuine asylum-seekers.
Mr Rudd said he knew nothing about the news.
''The UNHCR has got responsibility for processing the individuals on this particular vessel,'' he said in Canberra yesterday.
''I am unaware of what the outcome of any ... initial processing or initial discussions may be concerning their status that is a matter for the UNHCR.''
Asked if Australian officials had interviewed those aboard the boat, Mr Rudd said, ''I'm unaware of where all that is up to.''
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull was also remaining non-committal, refusing to be drawn on whether a future Coalition government would adopt previous prime minister John Howard's tough stance on asylum-seekers.
''When we come into government, after the next election, presumably a year from now, we will examine all of the options, including the policies that we had in place at the last election,'' he said.
He did say, however, that if the latest news on the Sri Lankans was true, it contradicted the Government's statements that push factors such as war were behind the recent increase in people seeking asylum in Australia.
Family First senator Steve Fielding said it was clear Labor's border protection policies were responsible for the influx.
''People smugglers are using these laws to send more people our way,'' he said.
''That is a huge concern. Something needs to be done.''
The group was meant to be offloaded from the Oceanic Viking under a deal struck between Mr Rudd and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, but they have not budged for a fortnight.
''This is our boat, it's been hijacked by the refugees, and the Rudd Government hasn't got a clue what to do,'' Senator Fielding said.
Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said an Australian solution to the asylum-seeker issue was required, one that was practical, long-term and humane.
She called on the Government to accept the 78 Tamils, saying she feared they would be otherwise be forcibly removed from the Oceanic Viking and put back into detention centres once they returned to Indonesia. AAP