Indonesia has readied jet fighters to respond if Australia encroaches into its waters, in the latest diplomatic escalation over Canberra’s policy of turning around boatloads of asylum seekers.

Navy vessels with Indonesian maritime patrol aircraft have also been moved closer to Australian waters. Tensions are continuing to rise over Australia’s new policy of using military force to turn around the often unsafe boats carrying asylum seekers and send them back in Australian boats — a policy Jakarta strongly opposes.

Tony Abbott, Australia’s Prime Minister, is credited with reducing arrivals by about 80 per cent since his election in September. Under the previous Labor government, nearly 1,000 people a week arrived by boat from Indonesia during peak periods.

Human rights groups have expressed concern over the