Eight Somali Nationals Being Held At Dumai Port

DUMAI, Riau, March 17 (Antara) - Eight Somali nationals, who arrived aboard a ferry at Dumai Port, are being held by the Indonesian Navy as they failed to present valid identity documents and the related paperwork on Wednesday (Mar 15). According to information received by the Navy's Intelligence department, the Somali nationals sailed from Malaysia to Panjang Strait, Meranti Islands Sub-district, and then continued they journey to Dumai Port aboard a Batam Jet 2 ferry to reach their final destination in Medan, North Sumatra. The eight Somali nationals, comprising three men and five women, were brought to the Immigration Office in Dumai for further investigation, as they were unable to present any personal identification data. The Somali men are 20-year-old Hasan, 25-year-old Muraad, and Mohammed Ali Abdulle and the five women are 35-year-old Asho Osman Mohammed, 17-year-old Fadumo Ali Abdulle, 26-year-old Lila, eight-year-old Rabbab, and Alin. Section Chief of Immigration Watch and Handling from Dumai Immigration Office Eko Prasetio pointed out that the Somali nationals came to Indonesia from their country of origin aboard an aircraft to Malaysia on Mar 6. "They are being held by the Immigration Office. Luckily, one of them could speak English, so our officer was able to communicate," Eko noted on Thursday. After investigating, we found that the foreigners had not brought any illegal or forbidden items, and only three of them had passports bearing the names Mohammed, Abdulle, and Abdulle. Five other Somali nationals are being held in custody, as they had lost their passports on their way from Malaysia to Panjang Strait, Meranti Islands, Eko stated. Earlier, the Dumai Navy base had also arrested nine foreigners from Bangladesh in the Rupat Waterway, Bengkalis, Riau, on Mar 3, and wanted to cross to Malaysia from Indonesia. Moreover, in 2016, the Indonesian authorities had taken into custody several immigrants from some waterways, most of whom wanted to reach Malaysia from Indonesia. They were later deported to their respective countries of origin.