PM accused of overstating refugee issue

Prime Minister John Key is being accused of overstating the chances of asylum seekers crossing oceans in boats and arriving on New Zealand shores asking for refugee status.

And his statements have been undermined by Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman, who suggested a boat holding 88 Tamil Sri Lankans was not bound for New Zealand.

The Indonesian Navy intercepted the boat on Saturday. Some on board were holding New Zealand flags and signs saying "We like to go to Newsland" and "Our future life is in Newsland".

Mr Key said the captain of the boat said they were coming to New Zealand - though it may have been bound for elsewhere - and it was only a matter of time before more ships would target New Zealand.

But Dr Coleman said there was no concrete evidence the boat was coming to New Zealand.

"The reality is you would expect there to be things like maps on board, charts that would indicate their true destination."

The signs may have been intended to create political pressure, he said.

"If you're standing on a boat with signs saying 'We want to go to New Zealand' and inviting intervention, then that's a form of pressure."

Mr Key suggested Dr Coleman was not as well informed as he was.

"He hasn't had an intelligence briefing, he's had a briefing from his officials, there's a difference."

He reiterated that the asylum seekers were not welcome here.

"These are people who are trying to jump the queue. The people-smugglers themselves are trafficking in human misery. They are people that are putting at risk the lives of those asylum seekers on the boat."

Labour leader Phil Goff said Mr Key was making a mountain out of a molehill.

"So far not one person has come by boat to New Zealand [seeking asylum]. You can't rule it out entirely, but it is not an overwhelming threat. He's building it into a bigger problem than it is."

But he agreed with Mr Key's policy that asylum seekers on boats were queue-jumpers who should not be encouraged.

Green Party MP Keith Locke and refugee advocacy groups said asylum seekers from islands had no choice but to take to the ocean.

"You're not an inferior category of refugee. There's no queue for you to join," he said.

Amnesty International NZ chief executive Patrick Holmes accused Mr Key of scare-mongering - the boat was still 7000km from New Zealand - and said the situation in Sri Lanka was dire.

"Thousands of Sri Lankans are currently facing the daily risk of grave human rights abuses ... as a result, men, women, children and families are forced to take desperate measures and risk their lives."