ID :
70793
Fri, 07/17/2009 - 11:11
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/70793
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ILLEGAL AFGHAN IMMIGRANTS ASKING FOR REPATRIATION SOON
Bengkulu, July 16 (ANTARA) - A total of 17 illegal immigrants from Afghanistan who were arrested by the police in the western waters of Bengkulu sometime ago are asking for repatriation to their country.
The aliens said they were prepared to be returned to their country because they had not yet got a response from the Australian government in connection with their intention to obtain asylum.
"We want to return to Afghanistan because the Australian government did not give us a clear response. We want to get tickets and passports to return to Afghanistan," Ahmad Ali, one of them said on Thursday.
In order to put pressure on the government, the Afghan immigrants staged a hunger strikes on Thursday, demanding that they be returned to their country soon.
Bengkulu city police last month caught 34 illegal immigrants from Afghanistan and Iran at Pondok Kelapa beach in Bengkulu Tengah district.
The 34 aliens told the police they were in Indonesia just on transit to Australia, Bengkulu city police chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Agung Setya said.
"But by not being in possession of all the required papers, they have violated Indonesia's immigration law," he said, adding that 15 of them had papers issued by the United Nations agency for refugee affairs (UNHCR) and one carried a passport.
Setya said the illegals also appeared to have been victim of human trafficking. "We are also trying to find who was behind their exit from their countries and transportation to Indonesia," he said.
Officers of the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for 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 recently.
"Their return to Afghanistan is just a matter of time. the immigration office will facilitate their return to meet their own wish. There are eight people who wanted to return to their country," he said.
IOM and UNHCR would help them go through all the administrative processes and bear the cost of their return to Afghanistan, he said. The administrative processes were expected to be completed in the 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.***3***
The aliens said they were prepared to be returned to their country because they had not yet got a response from the Australian government in connection with their intention to obtain asylum.
"We want to return to Afghanistan because the Australian government did not give us a clear response. We want to get tickets and passports to return to Afghanistan," Ahmad Ali, one of them said on Thursday.
In order to put pressure on the government, the Afghan immigrants staged a hunger strikes on Thursday, demanding that they be returned to their country soon.
Bengkulu city police last month caught 34 illegal immigrants from Afghanistan and Iran at Pondok Kelapa beach in Bengkulu Tengah district.
The 34 aliens told the police they were in Indonesia just on transit to Australia, Bengkulu city police chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Agung Setya said.
"But by not being in possession of all the required papers, they have violated Indonesia's immigration law," he said, adding that 15 of them had papers issued by the United Nations agency for refugee affairs (UNHCR) and one carried a passport.
Setya said the illegals also appeared to have been victim of human trafficking. "We are also trying to find who was behind their exit from their countries and transportation to Indonesia," he said.
Officers of the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for 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 recently.
"Their return to Afghanistan is just a matter of time. the immigration office will facilitate their return to meet their own wish. There are eight people who wanted to return to their country," he said.
IOM and UNHCR would help them go through all the administrative processes and bear the cost of their return to Afghanistan, he said. The administrative processes were expected to be completed in the 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.***3***
