No news yet for asylum seekers

No news yet for asylum seekers

JAKARTA (JP): Two young East Timorese requesting asylum from Canberra spent their second night at the Australian embassy yesterday as discussions for their fate broke down.

"The Australian embassy has discussed with the International Commission for the Red Cross about possible solutions, but there has been no solution so far," Australian Embassy spokesman John Milne said by phone last night.

"We are still discussing the matter. I cannot guarantee that tomorrow there will be a final answer. For the time being the pair are still staying in the embassy," he said.

East Timor and government sources identified the two women as Maria Sarmento, 23 years old, and Odilia Victor, 25. The pair went to the Australian embassy after noon Wednesday and asked for asylum. A source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that neither of them were wanted by the authorities.

The ICRC chief representative in Jakarta, Henry Fournier, confirmed that the Australian embassy had contacted his office about the presence of the two East Timorese women.

"We're waiting for further developments, because we still do not know where they want to go," he said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas earlier confirmed that the Indonesian government was also involved in the discussion.

Australia, which recognizes Indonesia's sovereignty over East Timor, is currently considering some 1,000 asylum applications from East Timorese, most of them already on its soil.

Unlike previous embassy break-ins in Jakarta, this time the Portuguese government did not respond immediately in giving the asylum seekers passage to Portugal. Last year, Lisbon's rapid intervention helped bring similar break-ins at the French, Japanese, Dutch and British embassies to speedy end. (01)