500 migrants declared genuine refugees

500 migrants declared genuine refugees

PEKANBARU, Riau: Out of the 2,100 migrants known to have
illegally entered Riau over the last few years, 500 have been
classified as genuine refugees, Director General of Immigration
Iman Santoso said here on Friday.

The classification into the genuine refugee status was made by
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and
the International Organization for Migration (IOM), he said.

Most of the illegal migrants entering Indonesia were Afghans,
who ran away from their country because of the civil war, Iman
said, adding that some of them had expressed an intention to
return home due to the improving conditions in Afghanistan.

The 2,100 were part of the thousands of migrants, including
those from Iraq, that had made their way across Asia to Indonesia
in the hope of reaching their final destination -- Australia.

Iman said the Indonesian and Australian governments had agreed
to jointly finance the return of the illegal migrants to their
countries of origin.

"Australia has pledged financial assistance to Afghan refugees
who want to return to their country voluntarily," he added. --
Antara