Indon diplomat wants deadline enforced

One of Indonesia's top diplomats believes his government should reject Australia's request for more time to resolve the Oceanic Viking asylum seeker impasse.

Sujatmiko, the Indonesian foreign ministry's diplomatic security director, says the 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers clearly cannot be persuaded to come ashore in Indonesia and his government should not extend the Oceanic Viking's security clearance beyond Friday.

"The security clearance is expired tomorrow.

"I'm not sure whether there is any applications from the Australian government for the extensions.

"If we extend their stay here, in my personal view it is to prolong the suffering of the people."

Australian officials have been trying for almost two weeks to persuade the ethnic Tamils to voluntarily leave the customs vessel and enter the Tanjung Pinang Detention Centre on the Indonesian island of Bintan, but they have steadfastly refused.

Indonesia had tried to remain patient and flexible but enough was enough, Sujatmiko said, labelling the stand-off a "waste of resources".

Sujatmiko stressed his view was a personal one and did not necessarily reflect his government's policy.

Any decision on whether to grant an extension would be made by his superiors in Jakarta on Friday, he said.

Asked if Indonesia's patience had run out, Sujatmiko said: "We will see tomorrow."

Without an extension the vessel will be forced to turn toward Australian waters before midnight on Friday.

If another extension is granted, "it will be the last", Sujatmiko warned.

But earlier, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Indonesia was working on granting Australia's request for an extension.

"It won't be a problem," he told AAP.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Thursday said both Canberra and Jakarta had "infinite" patience in resolving the impasse.

Mr Rudd repeated his position that the group would not be taken to Christmas Island, and would be offloaded in Indonesia under the agreement struck between Canberra and Jakarta more than two weeks ago.

But Mr Rudd's repeated claims that the asylum seekers were being processed in preparation for their transfer to the Indonesian detention centre were rejected.

Both the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Organisation for Migration (IOM) disputed the claims.

"We haven't had any contact with them at all at this point," IOM spokesman Chris Lom told ABC Radio.

The Greens accused Mr Rudd of misleading Australians as to the true circumstances surrounding the stand-off.

Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said the UNHCR had also advised that it had not begun processing the 78 asylum seekers and still needed approval from Indonesia to begin doing so.

"Yet the prime minister is trying to tell the public that they are being processed right now. He is either not across his brief or he is being deliberately misleading," Senator Hanson-Young said.

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull said Mr Rudd's border protection policy was in tatters.

"Kevin Rudd's catastrophic policy on border protection is becoming more and more apparent to everybody except for him," he said.

Meanwhile, a commercial vessel with the survivors from Sunday's Indian Ocean tragedy is continuing its passage to Christmas Island.

The LNG Pioneer is expected to arrive there late on Friday morning with 27 survivors and one deceased person from the mishap 350 nautical miles northwest of the Cocos Islands which left 12 asylum seekers dead, including two boys aged 13 and 14.