17 foreigners stranded in Sambas

17 foreigners stranded in Sambas

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan: Seventeen aliens identified as
fifteen Afghans and two persons of Afghan origin who claimed to
be Britons were stranded in the district of Paloh, Sambas
regency, West Kalimantan, after being set down from a speedboat
on Thursday.

Provincial police spokesman Comr. Suhadi said the foreign
nationals had been forced to disembark from a Malaysian speedboat
and were later found abandoned by local people in the Paloh port
area.

According to Suhadi, they claimed they were bound for Jakarta
via Malaysia but had been forced by the crew to quit the boat
when they reached Paloh.

Three of the 17 had no passports and claimed that they had
left their documents on the boat. Police had difficulty in
communicating with them because they did not speak English.

Police are continuing to question the aliens and have
contacted their embassies in a bid to determine if they have any
connection with separatist movements in Indonesia.

No prohibited goods or contraband were discovered on the
foreign nationals. (47)