(MENAFN- Arab News) SYDNEY: Australia on Monday told Indonesia to better secure its borders in a stinging rebuke after Jakarta demanded answers to allegations Canberra paid to turn back a boat of asylum-seekers.
The response from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop came after the Indonesian Foreign Ministry on Saturday said if the claims were true it would be 'a new low for the way that the Australian government is handling this issue' while asking for an explanation.
Claims that the captain and five crew of a boat carrying migrants from Bangladesh Myanmar and Sri Lanka were each paid $5000 by an Australian immigration official to turn back to Indonesia were made to Indonesian police on Rote island in the country's east last week.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has refused to deny the allegations and came under pressure in Parliament Monday from the opposition Labour Party which has asked the auditor-general to investigate.
The Greens party has also referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police for answers on possible payments.
'This government does not feel the need to broadcast our intentions and our tactics to our enemies' Abbott told Parliament.
Bishop suggested in an interview with The Australian newspaper that Indonesia was to blame for failing to properly manage its borders.
'I look forward to hearing the full results of Indonesia's investigation of the people-smuggling crimes committed in Indonesia' she said.
This she added should include 'any breaches of passport and visa laws and establishing whether the captains and crews of these boats are part of people-smuggling syndicates or are paid by them.'