Tamil community activist Saradha Nathan was detained on Tuesday, along with fellow Australian advocate Pamela Curr and Canadian Jessica Chandrashekar, in Merak, in Java’s west.

The women were there to see the boat that more than 240 Sri Lankan asylum seekers have refused to leave for the past three months.

They strongly deny Indonesian claims that they approached the boat, which is forbidden, insisting that they remained in a public area well back from the vessel.

But Indonesian officials deported the women, believing they had breached the conditions of their tourist visas by approaching the boat.

During her initial detention, Ms Nathan said, police and immigration officials accused her of being married to a people smuggler who shares her surname.

Ms Nathan said they eventually realised their error.

“My husband is a flight attendant and his surname is not Nathan,” Ms Nathan said.

Ms Nathan said she felt humiliated by the ordeal.

“I will never come back to Indonesia,” she said.

The women have been barred from returning to Indonesia for six months.

“We were in Indonesia because of our concern for the welfare and the future of the asylum seekers on the boat at Merak,” Ms Nathan said.

“Being detained and deported won’t hide the injustice of leaving the people on the boat for three months without proper support.”

The asylum seekers in Merak, intercepted by Indonesia at Australia’s request in October 2009, do not want to come ashore because they fear they will be forced to wait years for resettlement.

Indonesia has asked for Australia’s help to resolve the standoff, but Australia insists it is Indonesia’s problem.

This post was submitted by Adam Gartrell in Jakarta .