Indonesia's Security Affairs Minister says his country will not accept asylum seekers that Australia has attempted to send back to Indonesia.
The Australian Navy has rescued passengers from an asylum seeker boat that got into trouble off the coast of Java on Thursday morning.
Indonesia says the boat was outside its territorial waters, but it's understood that Australia tried to get Indonesia to take the asylum seekers back to Java.
In a text message, Indonesia's coordinating minister for security and political affairs, Djoko Suyanto, told the ABC that Indonesia has never agreed to such wishes and will not accept returns of asylum seekers.
In fact it has three times - once last year and twice in September this year - but Indonesia does not want it to continue.
Mr Suyanto out-ranks both the foreign minister and the defence minister and is one step closer to the president in the Indonesian government hierarchy.
