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Australian Customs Patrol - Source: Reuters -
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A generous offer of rapid resettlement for the 78 asylum seekers onboard the Oceanic Viking is an incentive for other boat people to seek refuge in Australia, former foreign minister Alexander Downer says.
Up to 20 of the Sri Lankans on the Australian Customs vessel, which is anchored off the Indonesian island of Bintan, have agreed to leave the ship and enter an Indonesian detention centre after accepting an offer of rapid resettlement.
The deal is the first breakthrough in a stand-off involving the group since they were picked up in Indonesian waters more than three weeks ago.
Downer, who was foreign minister in the Howard government, said the deal solves what federal Labor would see as "an immediate problem".
"But all they're doing is providing an incentive for people to try the same thing in the future," he told ABC Radio.
Downer also took a swipe at the government's handling of the issue, especially the message it was sending to Jakarta.
"If you do megaphone diplomacy with the Indonesians you end up with nothing."
A prominent human rights campaigner says Australia should either accept the asylum seekers aboard the Oceanic Viking or withdraw from its international commitments to refugees.
World Vision Australia chief Reverend Tim Costello says the asylum seekers are likely to be genuine refugees and should be resettled in Australia.
He urged the Rudd government to take the asylum seekers or repeal its commitment to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
"We are either serious about the UN convention we have signed or we un-sign it," he told ABC Television on Friday.
The way the government has handled the stand-off was not a good look for Australia in the region, he said.
"This piecemeal way of dealing with it is not adequate," he
said, adding that Australia should boost its humanitarian refugee
intake.
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