Stephen Fitzpatrick in Merak and Patrick Walters – The Sri Lankan asylum seekers holed up on board a boat in Indonesia intend to end their two-day-old hunger strike and are considering stepping ashore.
The 255 ethnic Tamils had refused to leave the boat since last Sunday, when it was intercepted by the Indonesian navy en route to Australia and taken to the Javan port city of Merak.
The adults began a hunger strike on Thursday, saying it would not end until a third country agreed to resettle them, or they started dying.
But after two days without food and water in the scorching Indonesian heat, the group's spokesman, known as Alex, said the hunger strike could end on Saturday afternoon.
"My people on board the ship are prepared to end the hunger strike," Alex said. "I think we have made a negative impact, and that's not what we were looking for."
The decision came as more asylum seekers succumbed to sickness, including an eight-month-old baby who was taken to hospital with breathing problems.
The baby, like the other 30 children on the boat, was not participating in the hunger strike and was returned to the boat after several hours.
Two male hunger strikers were also taken to hospital after passing out.
Alex said the asylum seekers would agree to finally come off the boat if a UNHCR representative agreed to meet with them and explain what was likely to happen next. "People want to start living their lives. We don't want to live like this anymore," he said.
Most refugees in Indonesia, which is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, are forced to spend many years in legal limbo while they wait to be resettled.
"We don't want to wait nine or 10 years in Indonesia because our children need education," Alex said. "As soon as we discuss that, we can get things rolling. My people are ready."
The asylum seekers have been taking advice from top Australian refugee lawyer David Manne, Alex said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is seeking a new strategic compact with Jakarta to halt the transit of asylum-seekers through the Indonesian archipelago to Australia.
A massively expanded Australian aid package to fund detention centres and training and broader intelligence-sharing between the two nations lies at the heart of Mr Rudd's sweeping plan.
The Prime Minister wants a new bilateral dialogue that would make Indonesian co-operation the foundation of Australia's strategy to stop the tide of boats and boatpeople.
Mr Rudd's proposal echoes John Howard's Pacific Solution, which relied on co-operation with the smaller Pacific states in managing the Australia-bound refugees. But in this case Jakarta is expected to insist on an equal partnership in administering any new arrangements.
A key aim will be to assist Jakarta with the long-term resettlement of all asylum-seekers currently held in detention centres in Indonesia.
Mr Rudd will discuss the terms of the plan with President Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono when he travels to Jakarta early next week to attend the Indonesian leader's inauguration.
News of the compact comes as the Rudd government seeks to toughen its stance on border security amid fears the rapidly escalating tide of arrivals will soon overwhelm Australia's strained detention facilities.
Yesterday, Mr Rudd brushed aside threats of self-harm by the majority of the 255 Sri Lankans aboard the asylum boat intercepted by Jakarta at his request, saying Australia would not be blackmailed into accepting asylum-seekers.
"These processes, nor the approach of the Australian government, will be moved by any particular tactics deployed by any particular person," the Prime Minister said.
Mr Rudd's uncompromising rhetoric follows clear signs that the Coalition will move to harden its stance on asylum-seekers, with former immigration minister Kevin Andrews publicly calling for a return to temporary visas for refugees.
Australia is already helping Indonesia cope with a steady flow of asylum-seekers, with annual aid worth more than $20 million, but this is set to vastly accelerate under the new proposal.
Under the Rudd government's plan, Australia would fund the cost of Indonesian naval pursuits of asylum boats and boost financial support for the detention centres, deportations and voluntary returns.
Australia would also boost training and intelligence-sharing arrangements with Jakarta and would upgrade military and police co-operation.
Documents obtained exclusively by The Weekend Australian reveal the plan was discussed at a cabinet-level meeting at Dr Yudhoyono's Jakarta residence a week ago.
Indonesia is enthusiastic about the plan, with a briefing document prepared this week noting that its only reservation was ensuring "equal position and advantage (for both countries) in the co-operative arrangement".
The Australian offer also includes the formation of a joint cabinet-level working group on illegal migration and a guarantee to work on resettling all illegal immigrants currently held in Indonesia.
Jakarta's response, which will be discussed when Mr Rudd visits Indonesia for Dr Yudhoyono's inauguration on Tuesday, is framed entirely within the context of the Lombok Treaty – the bilateral accord underpinning the security ties between Jakarta and Canberra.
The moves come amid mounting concern over the huge spike in asylum-seekers attempting to reach Australia through Indonesian waters.
Briefing notes prepared this week for General Widodo AS, the Co-ordinating Minister for Politics, Justice and Security and under whose responsibility immigration falls, quote confidential figures by the Immigration Department detailing asylum seeker apprehensions.
They show that over the past 12 months there have been 66 separate raids resulting in the arrest of 1642 illegal immigrants, most of whom were preparing to board or already onboard Australia-bound boats. Of these, 1096 have been from Afghanistan.
They also note that Australia "views the rise in activity very seriously, and in the past two months have actively pushed discussions on greater co-operation and assistance".
According to an Indonesian-language translation of the Australian offer prepared for General Widodo, Australian officials are concerned that people-smuggling through Indonesian territory "will become increasingly sophisticated and advanced, and be carried out through a range of tactics and routes, unless efforts to prevent them are implemented".
According to the ministerial briefing, the Australian request last week to seize a wooden cargo boat containing 255 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers was specifically driven by a desire to send a warning to traffickers.
[Additional reporting: Paul Maley, AAP.]