The Australian Maritime Safety Authority reported on the weekend that one of its ships went to help Indonesian and Malaysian vessels after two boats signaled they were in trouble.

However, the AMSA said it could not confirm that the 270 or so people on board one vessel in Indonesian and Malaysian waters were asylum seekers, media reports noted.

AMSA reported that everyone on board was safe.

HMAS Armidale made contact with the vessel nearly 300 nautical miles northwest of Christmas Island and 120 nautical miles from Sumatra. Christmas Island is Australia's main refugee detention center that currently holds upwards of 1,000 boat people from Asia.

The other suspected refugee boat was reportedly sinking in Malaysian waters when intercepted, the Sydney-based Nine Network television channel reported.

The latest AMSA mission comes a week after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd appealed to the Indonesian government to hold a boatload of refugees from Sri Lanka bound for Australia.

The boat of 250 Tamils was intercepted by the Indonesian navy and taken to the port of Merak. Many of the Tamils went on a hunger strike for three days protesting their boat's detention by Indonesian authorities.

During the refugees' detention Australian media were allowed to interview them. Many television current events programs showed images of people with babies and children pleading to be allowed to be taken in by Australia.

The emotive TV programs prompted Rudd to say that he is not moved by their emotional pleas and reiterated that his Labor government's policies are tough but humane. He is also seeking closer cooperation with Indonesia on controlling the asylum boat situation that many political opponents have said is now out of control.

A report in the Brisbane Times said that Liberal opposition immigration spokeswoman Sharman Stone said that the "flow (of asylum seekers) is back on full strength and it is a deadly business."

"We wouldn't have the problem in the first position, because we had zero boat problems, effectively, when we were in government," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

She said Rudd has been asking the Indonesian government to do its "heavy lifting" by detaining the boats when Labor should be getting tougher on letting them into the country once they arrive.

The number of asylum boats has risen from three in 2002 and 2003 to 41 boats since the Labor government "softened" its policy last year, she said.

Soon after coming to power, Rudd scrapped the asylum Pacific Solution policy of his Liberal predecessor, John Howard. Rudd said that the Liberals were basically bribing Nauru and New Guinea to house asylum seekers on their territories but in terrible conditions.

The Republic of Nauru, known as Pleasant Island, is an island nation in Micronesia in the South Pacific and is the world's smallest island nation, covering only 8 square miles.

Rudd's policy is to now use the Christmas Islands as a holding base and to speed up assessments of claims, including six-monthly case reviews by an ombudsman. But the facility now holding more than 1,000 asylum seekers is already full, according to critics. Nearly 100 people were sent there last month from two more rickety boats that were rescued by maritime authorities.

Part of Rudd's policy is also to come down hard on people traffickers, such as a current prosecution of several men charged with attempting to smuggle 52 people into Australia earlier this year. If found guilty they face up to 20 years in prison.

But a comment article in The Australian newspaper warned that Rudd's policy of working more closely with Indonesia carries risks. "Rudd's policy now stands or falls with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono," the article said. "In truth, the quality of Australian humanity towards asylum-seekers depends on practical ties with Jakarta. This is as obvious as it is uncomfortable."

The writer said that Australia is reluctant to reveal the full scope of its collaboration with Indonesia but spends about $14.8 million annually to help Indonesia beef up its border security arrangements. Since 1999 Australia has provided more than $31 million to support the International Organization for Migration in Indonesia, and this has involved care for 6,000 people under the Regional Co-operation Arrangements.

IOM advises people of their options -- voluntary return or a formal refugee claim through the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Indonesia, a process that takes years. Since 2001 Australia has resettled around 440 people seeking asylum in Indonesia.

But as the writer noted, "What happens when the most pro-Australian president in Indonesian history finally quits or relations hit another rough patch?"

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