16 AFGHAN IMMIGRANTS SENT TO KEPRI IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTER

Tanjungpinang, Apr 1 (ANTARA) - A total of 16 Afghan immigrants arrested by Tanjung Balai police in Ashan, North Sumatra, had been sent to the Riau Islands (Kepri) detention center on Thursday.

In the meantime, another nine Afghan immigrants caught in Tanjung Balai at about the same time will soon also be sent to the Kepri detention center.

"Tanjung Balai police has recently caught 25 illegal Afghan immigrants," Head of the Placement, Security, Repatriation and Deportation Division of the Kepri detention center Syafrial said here.

Last night, he said, the Kepri detention center also received eight Afghan immigrants caught by Bandar Lampung police. Scores of Afghan immigrants arrested by Bandar Lampung police were still held at the Bandar Lampung immigration detention center.

All the Afghan immigrants caught by Bandar Lampung and Tanjung Balai police were men.

"In the last three months, many Afghan immigrants had been caught in Bandar Lampung and Tanjung Balai," he said.

They were caught because they did not have a passport and immigration permit. They were then brought to Kepri, because Tanjung Balai and Bandar Lampung still have no immigration detention facilities.

"It appeared that the illegal immigrants were in Indonesia only on transmit, because their real destinations are third countries, including Austgralia," he said.

"The number of illegal immigrants now held at the Kepri detention house had reached 134," he said.