Illegal Afghans flock to Singkawang

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan: Singkawang Immigration office has been overwhelmed by an influx of illegal immigrants from war-torn Afghanistan.

Over the past two weeks alone, the office has dealt with 32 Afghans transferred by Singkawang police.

"We are overwhelmed by the illegal arrivals of Afghans," Singkawang immigration office chief Yusuf said as quoted by Antara.

The Afghans arrived in two batches. The first group of 17 people landed on July 30 and the other 15 on Aug. 9. Most of them do not have any official documents.

The Afghans were found stranded in Sambas regency by locals, who took them to the police.

Yusuf said that the illegal aliens were put in the Singkawang prison while awaiting help from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Jakarta.

He said that he has yet to discover whether the Afghans were stranded in Sambas on their way to another country or if Indonesia was their destination country. (07)