41 Afghans stranded in Surabaya

SURABAYA: A total of 41 Afghans, including 13 children, have been stranded in Surabaya since Monday after being mistakenly taken here by the Barito passenger motorboat from Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.

Chief of Tanjung Perak Port Supt. Wijaya Purbaya told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that his office was waiting for a decision from the Afghan Embassy, UNHCR and the Immigration Directorate General in Jakarta.

"They thought that the Barito was bound for Australia. Fourteen of them have no passports, while the others have Pakistani passports with them," Wijaya said.

Waskito, an immigration official at Tanjung Perak Port, quoted the Afghans as saying that they had left their war-torn country for a better life in Australia.

"Some of them said that many of their relatives had left for Australia," Waskito said, adding that they left their country by sea and had stopped in Malaysia before landing in Kupang.

The Afghan nationals are now at the immigration quarantine. (nur/sur)