Indonesia arrests 18 Australia-bound refugees
Indonesia has arrested a group of 18 stranded refugees who sought to reach Australia in the waters off Java Island.
District immigration chief Filianto Akbar said late Wednesday that the refugees had left Pameungpeuk beach in West Java on board a wooden boat in a bid to reach Australia’s Christmas Island.
“They intended to go to Christmas Island but their boat ran out of fuel and drifted near a beach in Cianjur district on Wednesday,” he said, adding that passing fisherman informed the police of their situation.
Akbar further said that 16 of the refugees, who are from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, had been transferred to a detention center for refugees and two others are still being questioned by authorities.
Police have also detained the captain and two crew members of the boat.
Australia turning its back to refugees
The Australian conservative government has adopted a hard-line policy regarding emigration, according to which officials are allowed to prevent asylum seekers from attempting to arrive on the mainland.
The policy, which has come under fire both at home and abroad, allows officials to turn back the boats carrying refugees and to refuse to resettle the asylum seekers who arrive on unauthorized vessels.
The refugees are detained in immigration camps on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
In a rare report in January, Australia disclosed that 15 boats carrying 429 asylum seekers had been returned since the start of the turn-back operations in September 2013.
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