Yogyakarta Police Detains 30 Illegal Immigrants

Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta (Antara) - The Gunung Kidul district police recently arrested 30 illegal immigrants seeking to travel to Australia through Indonesian waters. Chief of Gunung Kidul district police AKBP Faried Zulkarnaen said on Saturday that the 30 detainees come from different countries, including Somalia, Myanmar and Iran. "They remain in our custody for further identification while waiting for immigration officers and people from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to pick them up," he said. Apart from detaining the illegal immigrants, the Gunung Kidul police also arrested two Indonesian sailors, identified as Dani Hermawan, 28 years old, and Sandika Prayudi, age 26. "Both are witnesses in this case. We are still investigating the mastermind behind this human smuggling attempt," he added. On October 11, 88 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar were captured while sailing in Sukabumi waters on their way to Christmas Island, Australia. "There are men, women, and children in the group of people (who were arrested). They don`t have proper immigration documents, only a letter from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees," said Vice Chief of District Police Commissioner Wisnu Prabowo. The 88 refugees will soon be handed over to the Immigration Office, said officials Of late, Indonesia has become a transit point for refugees, mostly coming from conflict-ridden nations such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. Refugees from these countries are often traveling to Australia or New Zealand to seek asylum. As tensions have escalated in Myanmar due to sectarian conflicts between two ethnic groups, more refugees are leaving the country by boat. Some of these refugees have become stranded in other ASEAN nations, including Indonesia. (*)