T

he government said on Saturday that the Australian government had made the right call when it decided to accept a group of asylum seekers it had rescued on the high seas after its attempt to bring them back to Indonesia was rejected.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto '€” the senior official responsible for top-level coordination with Australian Immigration and Border Protection Minister Scott Morrison on boat people issues as arranged in a state visit by Australia'€™s new Prime Minister Tony Abbott to Jakarta in September '€” said that it was Australia'€™s responsibility to accept the boat people.

'€œNo one was winning in the standoff as [the asylum seekers'€™] destination has always been Australia, not Indonesia,'€ Djoko said via text message.

Earlier on Saturday, Australia said it would take the asylum seekers to its Indian Ocean outpost of Christmas Island, ending a standoff between Canberra and Jakarta over the fate of the boat people.

'€œThe Indonesian Government has advised Australian officials overnight that they are reviewing the request put forward by Australia,'€ Morrison said as quoted by AFP. '€œWhile we welcome Indonesia'€™s review of our request, in the best interests of the safety of the passengers and crew of the rescued vessel and the Australian vessel that has been rendering assistance, earlier this morning I requested Lt. Gen. [Angus] Campbell to transfer the persons rescued [...] to Christmas Island.'€

Morrison said they would then be rapidly transferred to camps on Papua New Guinea'€™s Manus Island or the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru, in line with Australia'€™s hard-line policy on asylum seekers arriving by boat. '€œThey will not be resettled in Australia,'€ he said.

Hikmahanto Juwana of the University of Indonesia (UI) has said that Australia'€™s decision to end the standoff was a welcome one. '€œIt is very positive for Indonesia. It shows that our stern stance worked and that Indonesia will not bow to Australia'€™s policy as such,'€ he said. He added that Indonesia was not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, whereas Australia was.

Indonesia has expressed concern over Abbott'€™s '€œtow-back'€ plan, which involves the Australian navy intercepting and forcing back to Indonesia boats crowded with undocumented migrants heading to Australia.

The government said on Friday that out of six asylum-seeker boats rescued by Australian vessels recently, Indonesia declined to receive the last three requests for transfer, which happened between September and November.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro has made it clear that Indonesia had never agreed to Abbott'€™s plan, saying that Canberra should '€œsend the asylum seekers to their detention centers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea and not to Indonesia.'€

The boat people incident came as the government came under growing pressure to ask for clarification from the US and Australian governments over allegations they conducted surveillance activities in the country.

Presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said on Saturday that such operations were unacceptable and that both the US and Australia should clarify the matter.

'€œWe will take steps that cannot be disclosed to the public,'€ he said, adding that Indonesia had held talks with other countries affected by the US-led spying program.