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Indonesia - Source: ONE News -
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A group of 260 Sri Lankan asylum seekers reportedly has threatened to blow up their boat if the Indonesian navy forces them ashore.
The boat, believed to be on its way to Australia, was intercepted by Indonesian authorities on Saturday and returned to the West Java port of Merak.
An Indonesian navy spokesman, First Marshal Iskander Sitompul, has told the ABC that many of the 260 men, women and children aboard the boat feel traumatic about going ashore because they have been "disturbed and tortured" during their journey from Sri Lanka, which began in late July.
He says they lived in the jungle in Malaysia for several months before a people smuggling syndicate took their passports and promised to deliver them to Australia.
A spokesman for the group has told The Australian newspaper they have gas canisters aboard the boat which they will blow up if the navy tries to force them to disembark.
"We have told the navy we will blow up the boat and jump into the ocean," said the spokesman, who would only give his name as Alex.
