REFUGEE

The remaining Sri Lankan refugees aboard an Australian customs vessel moored off Indonesia have agreed to leave the ship tomorrow, ending a standoff that lasted more than four weeks, the Age reported.

Extra workers have been assigned to Indonesia’s Tanjung Pinang detention center to accommodate the ethnic Tamils, the newspaper said, citing Indonesian officials. Twenty-two other people left the boat last week.

The Sri Lankans were picked up from their damaged boat by the Oceanic Viking customs vessel in Indonesia’s search and rescue zone last month. They had refused to leave the boat without assurances their claims for asylum would be swiftly processed.