Boat intercepted off Australia

Fri, 29 Dec 2000, 00:00 WIB | Source: AP

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.

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