Tuesday February 19, 2013
Indonesia detains 26 Australia-bound asylum seekers
JAKARTA - Indonesian police have arrested 26 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who were stranded after their boat hit a reef as they tried to reach Australia's Christmas Island, an official said Tuesday.
Based on a tip-off from local fishermen, police arrested the 17 men and 6 women, as well as three children, off an island in Jakarta's Thousand Islands chain on Monday morning, senior police officer Bungin Misalayuk told AFP.
"They are all Sri Lankan nationals who planned to sail to Christmas Island. Their boat was stranded at Tidung Island," he said, adding that the wooden boat's captain and crew have gone when police arrived at the site.
"They are all in good condition and being held at an immigration detention centre," he said.
Indonesia is a common transit point for asylum seekers trying to reach Australia's Christmas Island, which is closer to Java than mainland Australia.
Many board leaky wooden vessels that sometimes never make their destination.
Hundreds of boatpeople have died in recent years, while many more are being held in detention centres after being stopped while attempting to make the perilous journey.
Indonesia jailed five soldiers for up to six years last year for their roles in a people-smuggling ring. It included organising a boat which capsized late 2011, killing 200 passengers. - AFP
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