"Australia will do absolutely nothing that gives any encouragement to anyone to think that they can get on a boat, that they can work with people smugglers to start a new life. Illustration: Ron Tandberg "I'm sorry. If you want to start a new life, you come through the front door, not through the back door." But in a further escalation of diplomatic tensions between Canberra and Jakarta, just weeks after the execution of Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said Australia could not ignore the humanitarian crisis. "My point is this: countries that are parties to the convention on refugees have a responsibility to ensure they believe in what they sign," he said.

"I hope all the countries that signed the refugee convention address the issue ... if you believe it when you sign it, you should act upon it." The Deputy Speaker in the Indonesian House of Representatives, Fahri Hamzah, said Mr Abbott's comments were regrettable. "Tony Abbott should not put the blame on the asylum seekers. They went on the boats because they were forced to do that," he said. Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN convention, but Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to provide humanitarian assistance to 7000 Bangladeshi migrants and Rohingya refugees still stranded at sea and provide temporary shelter for up to a year.

Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand had provoked international condemnation by turning back boatloads of the asylum seekers, who are fleeing persecution, but Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur have agreed the asylum seekers can come ashore, though they must be resettled by the international community within a year. In contrast to Australia, the United States has said it is prepared to play a lead role in resettling some of those refugees as part of a multi-country response co-ordinated by the UN refugee agency. Mr Abbott's hardline stance drew criticism from the federal opposition and refugee groups and came as Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak ordered the Malaysian navy and coastguard to conduct search and rescue operations for boats carrying stricken migrants, including ethnic Rohingya from Myanmar. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Labor supported regional resettlement of refugees and that "where there is an unfolding humanitarian crisis in south-east Asia, Tony Abbott's 'not-my-problem approach' is disappointing". "There's no doubt there's terrible violence happening in parts which are affecting the Rohingya people. I believe this government should at least engage with our south-east Asian neighbours but in terms of regional resettlement, Labor remains convinced that is the right way to go."

Amnesty's national refugee co-ordinator, Graham Thom, said Australia was one of the few nations in the world that had seen a decline in boat arrivals in recent years, but asylum seekers were now making longer and more dangerous journeys. "It's extremely disappointing that now that Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have said they will allow them to come ashore, that Australia as a country is unwilling to help, particularly as the US government, which is not in this region, is offering to help with resettlement," he said. "You'd think Australia, which so often follows the US example, would want to be part of a regional response." In South Korea, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Fairfax Media south-east Asian nations should abandon their reluctance to interfere in each other's internal affairs and tackle the issue of Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingyas. She reiterated that Australia had "no plans" to take any of the Rohingyas beyond the current refugee intake.

Ms Bishop said the problem needed to be dealt with at its source, which stemmed from the denial of citizenship by Myanmar to the Rohingya minority. Though she stressed Australia would not interfere, Ms Bishop said,

Greens leader Richard Di Natale called for Australia to "step up and help huge numbers of people fleeing persecution in our region". With Lisa Cox, Lindsay Murdoch, AFP