EIGHT ILLEGAL AFGHAN IMMIGRANTS TO BE REPATRIATED

Bengkulu, Sumatra, June 26 (ANTARA) - Eight out of 46 illegal Afghan immigrants arrested by Bengkulu Police in Pondok Kelapa waters, Central Bengkulu, recently will be repatriated, a local immigration official said.

The aliens had told the local authorities they were in Indonesia only in transit to Christmas Island, Australia, which they would tray to reach by boat.
Officers of the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner Refugees (UNHCR) as well as the Indonesian Immigration Office were now handling the planned repatriation of the eight illegal immigrants, Indra Sakti of the Bengkulu Immigration office said here on Friday.

"Their return to Afghanistan is just a matter of time. the immigration office will facilitate their return which is fully at their own wish. There are eight people who want to return to their country," he said.

IOM and UNHCR would help them go through all the administrative processes and bear the cost for their return to Afghanistan, he said. The administrative processes were expected to be completed in next few weeks.

While the administrative processes were underway, the local immigration office would move the 46 asylum seekers to another building as the immigration office could no longer accommodate them.

Concerning Bengkulu Governor Agusrin M Najamudin's plan to ask the Afghan refugees to teach English and Al Qur'an, the immigration official said it could not be implemented yet.

He said the plan must first be seriously discussed as only few of them could speak English or Arabic.

Meanwhile, Bengkulu Governor Agusrin M Najamudin said recently the Bengkulu authorities would not treat the 46 Afghan immigrants as prisoners as they were only victims of war.

The governor said the foreigners would soon be moved from the Bengkulu immigration office to a more appropriate place.

They were human beings, too, and therefore for humanity's sake, they would be accommodated in a more comfortable place like a Hajj Building, he said.

While waiting for the Australian government's decision on their request for asylum, the Afghans would be given jobs such as Arabic or English teachers.

"While they are in Bengkulu, we should benefit from their knowledge and skills," he said.

The 46 Afghan asylum seekers were recently on hunger strike demanding the Australian government to grant them asylum.