Sri Lankan asylum seekers

Last week 83 Sri Lankan asylum seekers were intercepted by the Australian Navy, near Christmas Island, and the Australian government is planning to send them back to Sri Lanka without giving them a chance to apply for asylum in Australia.
There's an article about it here, from the Townsville Bulletin.
Tim Jeffries has posted some info here on Advoc8 about who to write to about this, and what to bring up.