Officials from Sri Lanka and Australia visited an Australian customs ship on Friday, November 6th, to talk to 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers on-board.

The asylum seekers refuse to hand themselves over to Indonesia immigration officials despite an ultimatum for the vessel to leave Indonesian waters.

The Oceanic Viking has been anchored off the coast of Indonesia for nearly two weeks… after an Australian navy vessel rescued the asylum seekers whose ship sank in Indonesian waters.

Australia says there was an agreement with Jakarta for the Sri Lankans to go to Indonesia to be processed, but the group is not being allowed into Australia.

The growing number of people traveling through Indonesian waters en route to Australia has created a political headache for Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Rudd has maintained that the detention and processing asylum seekers in his northern neighbor may prevent perilous sea journeys by more asylum seekers.

The United Nations estimates that over 15 million people a year become refugees around the globe.