Tulungagung Police Foil Smuggling of Illegal Immigrants

Tulungagung, E Java, (Antara) - The Tulungagung Resort Police of East Java successfully foiled efforts to smuggle hundreds of illegal immigrants from the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa. Police arrested the immigrants at 03.00 AM at Brumbun Beach. Officials said the immigrants largely came from Somalia, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Iran and Myanmar. Officials said several immigrants admitted to crossing to Christmas Island in Australia aboard an illegally chartered fishing boat, which cost approximately Rp20 million to Rp30 million per person. "We departed from Cisarua in West Java at midnight on Thursday aboard three economy class buses to be taken to Brumbun Beach, said a refugee from Sri Lanka identified as Thaviantharan Thusyandhan. He said the group has traveled about 26 hours to reach Brumbun Beach. However, police arrested them before they set sail for Christmas Island. Several refugees said that they fled from their countries due to economic, political, and security instabilities. "We all have official papers from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We do not want to have problems with the police and we do not want to be sent to an Immigration Detention Center," said a refugee from Iran named Basyra Ali. Several immigrants had tried to escape from Tulungagung Police officers, claiming they did not want to be sent to the Immigration Detention Center. Deputy Chief of Tulungagung Resort Police Commissioner Lutrianto Astomo noted that police were still gathering information about the refugees. "We should wait until the gathering of data has been finished and then the Chief of Tulungagung Resort Police will provide more information," Astomo said. (*)