Reports: Sri Lankan asylum seeker dies in Indonesia

Dec 24, 2009, 6:52 GMT

Jakarta - One of about 250 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who have refused to leave a cargo boat moored at a port in Indonesia's Java island has died, reports said Thursday.

The asylum seekers were intercepted by the Indonesian navy in October while on their way to Australia and have since refused to disembark their boat docked at Merak port in Banten province.

The online edition of the Media Indonesia daily said the Sri Lankan man died after being taken to the nearby hospital in Cilacap town.

Media Indonesia did not give the cause of death but the Australian Associated Press said, quoting the leader of the group, the man vomited blood.

'We are getting in touch with related parties, including the Sri Lankan embassy,' Andri Hadi, a Foreign Ministry official in Jakarta, was quoted as saying by Media Indonesia.

Local authorities could not be reached by telephone.

The Sri Lankans, mostly of the Tamil ethnic group, have said they were seeking asylum in Australia to flee persecution in their home country.

A separate group of 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers are still being detained on Indonesia's Bintan island after they were picked up by an Australian ship in international waters in October. They had earlier refused to disembark, demanding they be sent to Australia, but relented after being promised speedy processing for their refugee claims by the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

Australia has seen a fresh influx of undocumented migrants from conflict-hit countries such as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka this year.

Most Australia-bound asylum seekers arrive on small boats from Indonesia, where they have paid smugglers to arrange their passage.