Decision on boat people due, Downer says

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Decision on boat people due, Downer says

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says he expects Indonesia to decide on Friday whether to accept a group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers from Australia for UN processing.

The federal government wants the 83 men, who are being held on Christmas Island, to be returned to Indonesia to have their claims to refugee status determined by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The Sri Lankans, along with two Indonesians, were intercepted by the Australian navy aboard a fishing vessel in international waters last week.

Australia has been in talks with its northern neighbour to try to secure a guarantee that Jakarta would not deport the 83 men to Sri Lanka if they were returned to Indonesia.

Sri Lanka has demanded the men's return and branded them economic migrants whose claims to asylum are "baseless".

With Indonesia seemingly resisting Australia's requests, it looks increasingly likely the Sri Lankans could have their claims processed on Christmas Island or be transferred to Nauru.

Mr Downer on Thursday confirmed there had been no deal reached, and said Australia would be willing to pay for the cost of processing the men through the UNHCR in Indonesia.

He anticipated a final decision from Jakarta "in the next day or so".

"We haven't got a final response yet from the Indonesians. We're simply awaiting that and I don't know what their response is going to be," he said.

"This is a decision for them, whether they want the UNHCR to do the processing.

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"We'd be quite happy, of course, to meet any costs of processing. But I guess their feeling is these people have come illegally to Indonesia.

"They don't want to end up with them permanently in Indonesia - that's their perspective so we'll have to wait and see what their final decision is."

Mr Downer met with Sri Lanka's health minister, Nimal Siripala de Silva, who has demanded the men be sent back to their homeland - where a civil war is raging between the Sri Lankan government and secessionist Tamil Tiger rebels.

The Sri Lankan High Commission said Mr de Silva had urged Mr Downer to consider Sri Lanka's stance on the asylum seekers.

"The Sri Lankan minister told Mr Downer that in our belief, they are not refugees, they are economic migrants," a commission spokesman told AAP.

"Mr Downer listened and noted what he had to say."

A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said the minister had not held talks with Sri Lankan officials.

The UNHCR said it had not been made aware of any new developments that could decide the asylum seekers' fate.

A spokeswoman said the UNHCR welcomed the Australian government's assurances that it would not allow the Sri Lankans to be returned directly or indirectly to a place where their safety could be at risk.

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