Police detain boatpeople

Police detain boatpeople

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: Police have detained 42 Afghan and
Pakistani boatpeople who officials believed were bound for
Australia, police said Tuesday.

Alor deputy police chief Maj. Yasirman was quoted by Antara as
saying that the group, comprising mainly adult males, was
arrested in a small village of Dulolong last week as they were
about to board several small boats owned by local fishermen.

The official said all but 14 of them had entered Indonesia
legally with proper travel documents.

He said the group was now in detention in Kupang awaiting
deportation.

Australia has long complained that illegal immigrants, with
the help of Asian crime syndicates, have been using Indonesia as
a point for entry into Australia, which has thousands of
kilometers of uninhabited coastline on its remote northwest
coast.

Recently the two countries patched up a diplomatic row over
the issue and agreed to cooperate to solve the problem. (byg)