Australia’s Customs and Border Protection said HMAS Armidale intercepted the vessel west of Christmas Island. The 18 passengers were transferred to Christmas Island for security, identity and health checks.

Meanwhile, the Refugee Council of Australia (RCA) expressed dismay at the Australian government’s short term plans on illegal immigration and called on the government to develop a detention policy that balances risk management with humane treatment, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

This is in response to the government’s plan for a $9.2 million, 1500-bed facility at an industrial site at Wickham Point, 35 kilometres south-east of Darwin.

The announcement brought to 4900 the number of beds Labor had added to detention facilities since the election. ''Labor has opened more beds in detention centres than they have in public hospitals … their only answer to more and more boats has been to open more and more beds,'' RCA chief executive, Paul Power said.

He added it showed Labor's plan for a regional processing centre in East Timor was ''clearly farcical''.

''The answer is not to spend even more money building large new detention centres,'' he said.

He said the government was sticking to its plan to negotiate for a processing centre in East Timor, despite concerns being raised by Timor government officials.

Immigration Department figures showed the average time in detention grew from 25 days in 2008 to 183 days last year.

Indonesia and East Timor's foreign ministers said yesterday they were yet to be convinced about Julia Gillard's plan for a refugee processing centre in East Timor.

The United Nation's High Commissioner for Refugees in last year said given the cessation of hostilities, Sri Lankans originating from the north of the country are no longer in need of international protection under broader refugee criteria or complementary forms of protection solely on the basis of risk of indiscriminate harm.

"The asylum seekers are economic migrants, not fearful refugees and there is no legitimate basis for an application of refugee status at all," Minister of External Affairs Prof. G. L. Peiris said recently.