Tamils being properly processed: PM

5 Nov 2009, 11:29 am   -   Source: AAP
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Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is refusing to countenance transferring 78 Tamil asylum seekers on board the Oceanic Viking to Christmas Island, insisting they are being "properly processed" in Indonesia.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is refusing to countenance transferring 78 Tamil asylum seekers on board the Oceanic Viking to Christmas Island, insisting they are being "properly processed" in Indonesia.

The Australian customs vessel has been anchored off the Indonesian island of Bintan for 11 days, and the Indonesian government says there is "a limit" to how long it can remain there.

But Mr Rudd says everything is proceeding as planned and he won't discuss the possibility of the Tamils eventually being sent to Christmas Island.

These individuals are being properly processed in using the IOM (International Organisation for Migration) and the UNHCR officials who are currently in Indonesia," he told ABC Radio on Thursday.

"That is how it's going to continue into the future until these matters are properly dealt with."

Mr Rudd said there was "legitimate and understandable debate" concerning the Oceanic Viking and denied the standoff proved the government's so-called Indonesian solution was a failure.

Labor was being criticised from the far right and those on the left, he said.

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