NAVY CATCHES 10 AFGHANS ENTERING INDONESIA ILLEGALLY

Pekanbaru, March 6 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Navy caught 10 Afghans who were trying to enter Indonesia illegally in Riau waters, a Navy spokesman said.

The chief of the naval base in Dumai, Col Arief Sumarsono, said here on Thursday the Afghans who were all male carried no passports nor other documents. They were caught by a naval ship during a routine patrol on Wednesday, he said.
He said the illegal immigrants entered aboard a wooden boat along with 19 Indonesian workers from Malaysia. "Based upon their confession the Afghans had worked in Malaysia," he said.
"They said they wanted to come to Indonesia to ask for political asylum because of the current war in Afghanistan," he said.
He said the ten Afghans were now still under investigation at the Dumai naval base. They were identified as Murtaza (28), Sajjad Husain (26), Abu Zay (23), Sultani (28), M Husain (55), Ahmad Shoa (26), Abdul Qayum (50), Chaman Ali (29), Shukur Allay (25) and Abdul Karim (23).
"We are still coordinating with the immigration office with regard to their case," he said.