It was believed the family had only two days of food and water when they set out in the hope of reaching an island in Australian territory.

International wire services have carried in-depth reports of the latest incident, as well as reporting at length the previous incident in January when 43 West Papuans landed on Cape York.

Australia West Papuan Association representative Nick Chesterfield told the Torres News, that although the family’s departure from Merauke had been confirmed, he did not believe that the new asylum seekers were connected to the 43 who landed on Cape York.

Confusion centred on which Island the family had been left, until Wednesday when reports emerged that an Australian Customs Service helicopter carrying Customs and Police officers had left Horn Island on the way to Deliverance Island.

Deliverance Island is in the far North West of the Torres Strait only 18 nautical miles from the PNG mainland.

Customs surveillance flights in the area proved fruitless and the search around Deliverance Island was called off.

Soon after international news reports emerged the boat in which the family had been travelling had become lost, ran low on fuel and was believed to have dropped them near Bula in Papua New Guinea (P.N.G).

Customs Minister Chris Ellison said Australian investigations and surveillance flights were continuing in the Torres Strait area.

Indonesia is reported to have increased navy patrols in the waters between Papua and Australia in an attempt to discourage further activity in the area.

When asked for comment on the situation Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said:” That’s a matter for the Indonesian Government.”

Dr Nelson said Australia’s relationship with Indonesia was under “some strain” over the Papua situation, but was hopeful the “close co-operative relationship” with Indonesia would resume.

The Australian government has been under pressure from Indonesia since it granted temporary protection visas to 42 of the 43 members of the group landing on Cape York earlier in the year.

It is concerned about the deterioration in relations between Jakarta and Canberra and is struggling to repair the biggest rift with Jakarta since East Timor.

Speaking after the failure of the Papuan family to reach Australian soil Prime Minister John Howard said: “That’s a good thing in the context of the relationship between Australia and Indonesia.”

He also appealed to activists in Australia not to encourage separatists to seek asylum in Australia.

Source: Torres News