REFUGEE

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he doesn't know what the status is of 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers aboard an Australian customs vesselThe ethnic Tamil group, who are refusing to leave the Oceanic Viking moored off Indonesia's coast, reportedly have been living in Indonesia for years.

In written messages thrown off the boat, Fairfax newspapers reported the asylum seekers as saying they'd been living in Indonesia for as long as five years and had been accepted by the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Jakarta as genuine refugees.

Mr Rudd claimed to know nothing about the news.

"The UNHCR has got responsibility for processing the individuals on this particular vessel," he told reporters in Canberra on Sunday.

"I am unaware of what the outcome of any ... initial processing or initial discussions may be concerning their status - that is a matter for the UNHCR."

When asked if Australian officials had interviewed those aboard the boat, Mr Rudd drew another blank.

"I'm unaware of where all that is up to," he said.