Indonesian police fired a warning shot into the air to stop Tamil asylum seekers from disembarking from the boat which is currently stranded off Aceh's coast, The Age reported.
The group of 44 men, women and children have been stranded there since June 11.
Amnesty International earlier this week called on the Indonesian authorities to allow the asylum seekers to disembark and meet with UN Refugee Agency officials, highlighting the ongoing discrimination faced by Tamils in the North-East.
The international director of the Geutanyoe Foundation, Lilianne Fan told Fairfax Media:
"If they are from Jaffna, this would indicate they could be genuine asylum seekers who are fleeing a worrying deterioration in the security situation."
"Over the last few months there has reportedly been a military crackdown in Jaffna on former Tamil Tigers."
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