The Malaysian government says the deaths of at least eight asylum seekers who drowned after their boat sank in Indonesian waters underscores the need for more international co-operation in combating people smuggling.
The boat, which was carrying about 70 asylum seekers, sank in the early hours of Tuesday morning after leaving for Australia from a port in Cilacap in Central Java.
Authorities in Indonesia have confirmed eight of those who were aboard the vessel had drowned but have warned the death toll will rise after conceding there is now little hope of finding anymore survivors.
More than 50 asylum seekers as well as three Indonesian crew members, survived when the boat went down in rough seas.
The incident has also breathed new life into debate in Australia over offshore processing of asylum seekers and the federal government's refugee swap deal with Malaysia, which was abandoned last month because of a parliamentary impasse.
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A spokesperson for the Malaysian government said on Wednesday night it was further evidence of the need for greater international co-operation in dealing with the asylum seeker problem.
"This latest tragedy shows the total disregard that people traffickers have for their victims and underlines the need for international co-operation to tackle this international problem," the spokesperson told AAP.
"Our thoughts are with the families of the dead and missing - they can be assured that Malaysia will continue to do everything it can to prevent such a disaster happening again."
The comments from Kuala Lumpur come after Australia's Immigration Minister Chris Bowen on Wednesday morning urged the coalition to reconsider its opposition to the now defunct Malaysia agreement.
"This is a terrible tragedy but it is a fact that when you have more boats coming to Australia you will see more deaths," Mr Bowen said.
"We didn't adopt the Malaysia arrangement because it was politically easy or it was convenient, quite the opposite. We adopted it because we knew that this was the sort of arrangement that was necessary to avoid more deaths at sea, and that's exactly what we've seen."
Malaysian authorities have also revealed that they arrested 13 foreigners on Monday who were caught attempting to travel by boat to Australia.
Southern Malacca state police chief Chuah Ghee Lye said four Pakistani men, four Afghans and five Indonesians including the skipper of a vessel had been detained late on Monday.
The Afghans included a woman and an 18-month-old baby.
Marine police intercepted the boat off Malacca after a 10-minute chase.
Malaysia is a known transit point for asylum seekers heading to Australia.
