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The fate of 157 Sri Lankan asylum seekers held at sea for almost a month before being brought to a detention center in Australia was stuck in limbo on Monday, as lawyers for the detainees said they might sue the government for illegal imprisonment.

The interception and detention of the Tamil asylum seekers, including 50 children, hashighlighted Australia's controversial policy of turning back boats carrying potential refugees, which has drawn criticism from rights groups and the United Nations.

The government made the decision to bring the group to Australia on Sunday after lawyers began legal action in the Australian high Court to stop them being sent to Sri Lanka, and disputing the government's stated right to assess asylum claims at sea.

High Court Justice Kenneth Madison Hayne ruled on Monday to vacate an earlier decision to hear that case next week, citing the changed circumstances, but left the door open to fresh hearings.

Indian consular officials were due to begin interviewing some of the group, whose boatwas intercepted by the Australian navy after setting sail from India, which has agreed to take back any of its nationals among the group.

But Hugh de Kretzer, a lawyer for some of the asylum seekers, said he did not believedeportations would begin before new hearings and they were considering fresh legal action.

There appeared to be little sign the negative attention Australia has garnered from the case was having any impact on the government’s key election promise to do whatever it thought necessary to stop the boats.

Australian Conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott's government had boasted of its success in deterring asylum seekers from making the perilous journey, often in unsafe boats after paying smugglers in Indonesia.

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Anne Ruisi is an editor at China Daily online with more than 30 years of experience as a newspaper editor and reporter. She has worked at newspapers in the U.S., including The Birmingham News in Alabama and City Newspaper of Rochester, N.Y.