A GROUP of asylum seekers say they were given a boat by Australian authorities in which they were forced to return to Indonesia under their own steam after their own vessel's engine failed.
The development appears to be confirmation that Australian border-protection authorities have begun using lifeboats to return asylum-seekers to Indonesia, after the commander of Operation Sovereign Borders confirmed on Wednesday that a number of such vessels had been acquired.
One asylum seeker has told AAP he was with about 50 others from Bangladesh and Pakistan when they were intercepted close to Christmas Island about 10 days ago, after their boat's engine stopped working.
The man, from Bangladesh, who spoke through a translator, said they were then transferred to an Australian navy vessel, where they remained for several days, before being escorted back towards Indonesia.
They were then given a smaller boat that they used to make their own way to Pelabuuhan Ratu in West Java, which they say took about three hours.
The smaller boat was crewed by by the same Indonesian men that had attempted to take the asylum seekers to Christmas Island.
The group arrived at Pelabuuhan Ratu, about 12 hours drive from Jakarta, at about 11am on Wednesday morning.
It's believed they could be from a group of about 54 asylum seekers from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar (Burma) who had reportedly set out for Christmas Island on about January 5 or 6.
The development comes after Immigration Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday refused to comment on whether Operation Sovereign Borders had involved towing back or turning back boats into Indonesian waters.
However, Operation Sovereign Borders commander Lieutenant General Angus Campbell, speaking at the same media conference, confirmed that Customs had bought a number of lifeboats for its operations.
He would not say how they would be used.
The incident, if confirmed, is likely to prompt an angry response from the Indonesian government after Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa warned against the measure earlier this week.
"Developments of the type that has been reported in the media, namely the facilitation by way of boats, this is the kind of slippery slope that we have identified in the past," Dr Natalegawa said in response to the government's admission that lifeboats have been bought.
The asylum seekers involved in the incident were not in custody on Thursday night, with many having already made their way back to Bogor, near Jakarta.
Some of group said they were also on another boat which was turned back to Indonesia by Australia in December.
At least three other asylum-seeker boats are believed to have been towed back to Indonesia by Australian authorities since December 13.
A spokesman for Indonesia's Co-ordinating Minister for Politics, Security and Law Djoko Suyanto said his office was aware that two asylum-seeker boats had been turned back by Australia, in December and January 6.
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