SYDNEY — Just when links between Indonesia and Australia were looking good, along come Sri Lankans fleeing in leaky boats. Suddenly the Indian Ocean marks a diplomatic and humanitarian standoff of grim proportions.
What started as a rescue by the Australian Navy of fleeing Sri Lankan Tamil refugees soon turned into a standoff between Canberra and Jakarta, with Colombo declining to pour oil on troubled ocean waters.
Boatloads of South East Asian refugees trying to avoid persecution in war-torn homelands by entering Australia illegally is nothing new. Tens of thousands of "boat people" fleeing the Vietnam War and now leading comfortable lives here showed the way. But the latest dash for freedom marks a bigger, more complex challenge to international good will.