Some of the 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers onboard Australian Customs ship the Oceanic Viking have threatened to kill themselves rather than go to Indonesia.
Speaking to the ABC from a phone hidden from customs officers, the asylum seekers pleaded with Australia to give them a new home.
They say conditions onboard the ship are tough, especially for a nine-month-old baby who is not getting enough milk.
The asylum seekers confirmed that they had already been living in Indonesia for years, and that they would rather end their lives in the ocean than go back there.
One asylum seeker said over the phone that if they cannot go to Australia: "We'd like to go to another resettlement country, otherwise we can't live in the world".
The asylum seekers have been on the Oceanic Viking now for more than two weeks, but say they have been in limbo for years, waiting in Indonesia to be resettled by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
The men say it is that frustration which pushed them to take a boat to Australia.
They paid a people smuggler more than $US5,000 to make the journey but are now stuck onboard the Customs ship with no sign Australia is willing to take them.
They claim it is like being in detention and accuse customs officers on board of mistreating them.
"He pushed me to go back. He said always like this and also using bad words like 'f**k'," said one asylum seeker.
But Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor says the asylum seekers are being treated well.
Mr O'Connor says he's aware of the swearing claims but says they are being looked after.
"I've heard media reports and claims but can I say that the advice I've received is that the well-being of the passengers is the priority of the personnel on board and indeed the monitoring by the doctor," he said.
"Other personnel have ensured that the passengers are being treated well."
The men who spoke to the ABC would not give their names because they feared they would get in trouble from Australian authorities.
Asked why they left Sri Lanka they said they had been fleeing the turmoil there.
"We are not Tamil Tigers. I suppose we are Tamil people but we are not Tamil Tigers," said one person.
A 29-year-old man who has a wife and daughter in Sri Lanka said the group is united in refusing to go to Indonesia.
He said conditions on the Oceanic Viking are tough, especially for the five women and five children.
A nine-month-old baby on board is apparently crying constantly because of a shortage of milk.
The man says he cannot understand why Australia will not accept them as refugees.
The country's peak union body has weighed into the debate, saying the 78 asylum seekers should be brought to Australia.
The ACTU has bought a half page advertisement in a national newspaper, saying it is time to show humanity and allow the asylum seekers into Australian territory.
Let them in
ACTU president Sharan Burrow says Indonesia should have taken them but if they refuse, Australia should demonstrate its humanity.
"Clearly those people are worried about going to Indonesia when Indonesia has been very reluctant about actually accepting them and supporting them in regards to providing a safe home for genuine refugees," she said.
"We can do that job here. We can process those people. This is just one piece of the puzzle.
In regard to the issue more broadly, first and foremost, 1700-odd people this year compared to those who arrived by plane but more importantly compared to those who other nations are dealing with both, have a look at Greece and Morocco and Spain and more recently Algeria and Tunisia.
"People are flooding into those countries through Europe because they are desperate to find better lives."
© ABC News
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