Two Australian refugee advocates deported from Jakarta say the Indonesian government is fed up with Australia's inaction on the asylum seeker stand-off at Merak , and will never again intercept a boat on Kevin Rudd's request.
Saradha Nathan and Pamela Curr, who have touched down in Sydney today, claim the Indonesian government deported them as a warning to Mr Rudd to resolve the ethnic Tamils saga.
The 250 asylum seekers were intercepted by Indonesia at Australia's request in October 2009, and are still refusing to disembark over fears they'll be forced to wait years for resettlement.
They are refusing to disembark and have staged a hunger strike and threatened to torch their boat to draw attention to their plight.
Australia has refused to help, insisting it's Indonesia's problem.
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Indonesian government 'don't want Australia's refugees'
Ms Nathan says officials from Indonesia's department of foreign affairs have told her they don't want to warehouse Australia's refugees and are frustrated the Australian government hasn't taken responsibility.
Refugee advocates including Ms Nathan and Ms Curr believe Australia should offer the asylum seekers a rapid resettlement deal like the one it used to coax 78 Tamils off the Oceanic Viking last year.
Ms Nathan, a Tamil community activist, and Ms Curr were in Indonesia to meet with officials to organise humanitarian aid for the Tamils.
They say they were intimidated, detained and deported for no reason.
They also claim the Indonesian government made false claims against them, including that they had entered a restricted zone around the boat where NGOs and media are no longer allowed.
"They keep changing the story," Ms Nathan told reporters at Sydney Airport on Saturday morning.
"They just wanted (a reason) to say humanitarian workers shouldn't be coming there, that the plight of the Tamils should not be observed."
"The last time we will do this for Austalia": Indonesian official
"I think Indonesia is trying to give a message to the Australian government by harassing Australian citizens," she said.
Ms Curr said officials went further.
"The senior department of foreign affairs official was quoted in the BBC as saying this is the last time we will do this for Australia - they also said exactly the same thing to us in a private meeting on Friday morning," she said.
The official in question was Foreign Ministry spokesman Sujatmiko, who uses only one name.
The women have called on the Australian government to act immediately before the appalling conditions on the boat worsen.
"These are human beings you know, they are not live cattle," Ms Curr said.
"The RSPCA would intervene if live cattle were being kept in these conditions."
