JAKARTA: Indonesia insisted it believed Australia paid a boatload of asylum seekers to turn back from its shores after Canberra had repeatedly refused demands for a clarification on the issue, ratcheting up tensions between the two countries.
Jakarta said it sought an explanation from Canberra after Indonesian police investigated a case in which the captain and crew of a migrant boat said Australian authorities allegedly paid them US$31,000 (RM114,700) to turn asylum-seekers back to Indonesia.
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