Indonesia deports 252 Chinese sailors

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian immigration officials made history yesterday when they deported 252 Chinese sailors, the largest single deportation ever conducted.

"This is definitely the biggest ever deportation that Indonesia's immigration directorate has ever undertaken," said Zaiman Nurmatias, director of supervision and law enforcement at the Directorate General of Immigration.

Zaiman personally saw off the illegal Chinese immigrants yesterday at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. They were flown back to China aboard Garuda Indonesia flight GA-812.

Prior to their departure, Zaiman and a representative from the Chinese Embassy, Liu Yonggu, signed letters to signify the official exchange of the immigrants.

The 252 were part of a group of 301 sailors caught on Feb. 12 for illegally entering Indonesian waters near central Maluku using 16 ships.

They were flying an Indonesian flag but were caught without sufficient papers by a Navy patrol in Tual, Maluku.

Forty-nine, including the captains, were being detained so they could be brought to court in Ambon, while the rest were brought to Jakarta for yesterday's deportation.

Head of the deportation team, Azral, was quoted by Antara as saying that the cost of the deportation would be paid for by PT Caturbina Duta Pertamina, the company supposedly responsible for bringing them here, and the Chinese Embassy.

The deportation caught the attention of many at the airport yesterday as the immigrants arrived in 10 military trucks.

As they were escorted to Terminal E, dozens of security officers kept a watchful eye.

The deportation proceeded very smoothly without any incident. (mds)