The Wire

Almost 260 Sri Lankans aboard a boat moored in Western Java are pleading with Australian authorities to consider their bid for asylum, saying that returning to Sri Lanka means certain death.The group was intercepted in Indonesian waters on the weekend after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd rang Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.Bruce Haigh is the former Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka . He says the Prime Minister’s actions are the result of fear and a belief that voters are still anti-refugee.