REFUGEE

Authorities will begin resettling the 78 Sri Lankans involved in the Oceanic Viking stand-off next week after finding all of them to be genuine refugees.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has finished assessing the Tamils' refugee claims and is now looking for suitable third countries to take them in.

Senior Australian sources say resettlements are likely to begin in the middle of next week. But they will not say how many of the Tamils will end up in Australia.

Australia picked up the Tamils in international waters inside Indonesia's search and rescue zone in October and took them to the Indonesian island of Bintan.

But the Tamils refused to leave the Australian vessel and enter Bintan's detention centre, sparking a four week stand-off.

The Rudd government finally enticed them ashore with the promise of rapid processing and resettlement in a third country.

Under the special deal, the government promised that those previously assessed as refugees would be resettled within six weeks of coming ashore - a deadline that expires on Christmas Day. The others will be resettled by the end of January.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison says the deal makes it likely that the Tamils will end up in Australia.

"If all of these people whose claims have been upheld end up in Australia, then clearly they were offered a special deal and that sends a very unhelpful message to people smugglers about what can be gained if they choose to call on the Rudd government," he told AAP.

The Greens welcomed the UNHCR's decision and said Australia should resettle all 78 refugees.

"It is now time for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to give up the game, give up playing politics, and allow these 78 people to have some peace and a future here in Australia," Senator Sarah Hanson-Young told reporters in Adelaide.

"It is in the prime minister's hands now to ensure those people are brought to Australia."

Australia should resettle more people found to be refugees, she said.

"Last year we only took 35 people who were given official refugee status by the UN," she said.

"Yet these are desperate people who have every right to seek freedom, protection and safety for themselves and their families. Australia should be doing much more."