Boat intercepted off Australia

Boat intercepted off Australia

CANBERRA (AP): Authorities intercepted a boat carrying around 50 suspected illegal immigrants from Indonesia in waters off Australia's northwest coast, the government said on Thursday.

The Indonesian fishing boat was spotted late on Tuesday by Australian Customs officers aboard the patrol boat Wauri near Ashmore Reefs, 900 kilometers west of the northern city of Darwin, justice minister Amanda Vanstone said.

The boat was the eighth to be caught in the past two weeks carrying people to Australia illegally and one of dozens intercepted in the past year.

Australia has recently become a destination for illegal migrants, mostly from the Middle East, who pay smugglers thousands of dollars for a passage across southern Asia and Indonesia.