16 Feb 2014

Australian vessels enter Indonesian waters

6:21 pm on 16 February 2014

Australian immigration minister Scott Morrison says Australian naval vessels have inadvertently entered Indonesian waters several times while forcing asylum-seekers to turn back.

The ABC reports that Indonesia last week called in the Australian ambassador to express its displeasure at his government's border protection policies, particularly the use of lifeboats to send back asylum-seekers.

Mr Morrison says a review is detailing how many vessels infringed Indonesian waters, and some of those details will be released once the report has been discussed with Indonesian officials.

Mr Morrison refused to reveal how many ships breached Indonesian waters saying he was not going to pre-empt the report.