TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice President Jusuf "JK" Kalla criticized the Australian government for paying ship crews to send asylum seekers to Indonesian waters.

"It's an act of bribery," JK said at the state palace on Monday, June 15, 2015, adding that such an act was highly unethical since it concerned international relationship.

Earlier, Brisbane Times reported that the Australian Government paid thousands of dollars to ship crews who transported asylum seekers to New Zealand. The report mentioned that the Australian government asked them to redirect asylum seekers to Indonesia.

The asylum seekers comprised people from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. The incident that took place in late May 2015 was exposed by Rote Ndao Police in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

JK viewed that the Australian government had committed human trafficking for redirecting the asylum seekers. Kalla said that Australia was one of the countries who signed the United Nation's Convention on refugees and asylum seekers.

JK also called on the Indonesian Military to prevent such an incident from recurring in the future.

REZA ADITYA