More Papuan asylum seekers found by Australia

CANBERRA, May 9 (Reuters) Australia has intercepted three asylum seekers from Indonesia's Papua province on a small remote island off the country's northern coast, Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said today.

The arrival of the men comes just two months after ties between Indonesia and Australia were strained when Canberra granted refugee visas to 42 Papuans who arrived on Australia's remote northern coast in an outrigger canoe.

Vanstone said the three men, who were travelling in a small unpowered native boat, had been intercepted on an island excluded from Australia's migration zone, which meant they could not apply for asylum.

''If they were to seek protection, they will not be processed in Australia and are not entitled to make any application under the Migration Act,'' Vanstone said in a statement.

Vanstone said early indications were that the men had travelled from Papua to Papua New Guinea, before trying to make their way to Australia. She said the Immigration Department was exploring the option of returning the men to Papua New Guinea.

Papuan independence activists have campaigned for more than 30 years to split from Indonesia, while a low-level rebellion has also simmered.

Human rights groups accuse Indonesia of widespread abuses there, and the 42 Papuans who sought asylum said they feared becoming victims of genocide. Jakarta denies such charges.

Australia's decision to grant refugee status to the 42 Papuans in March angered Jakarta, which said the decision gave credence to the Papuan claims off ill-treatment and gave support to Papua's independence movement.

Indonesia withdrew its ambassador to Australia in protest against the decision. There have also been protests outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, and calls for an Indonesian boycott of Australian goods.

Australia reviewed and changed its asylum-seeker policy last month after the row with Indonesia. Anyone who arrives illegally by boat now will be sent to immigration detention centres in the Pacific nation of Nauru or on Manus island in Papua New Guinea.

The new rules mean those found to be refugees will be accepted by a ''third country'' and will not be guaranteed entry to Australia.

Reuters PDS VP0635