16 Afghans arrested in Lampung

Immigration officers in Lampung arrested 16 allegedly illegal Afghan immigrants  Bakauheni Seaport as they the were about to cross to Java Island.

“Seaport authorities arrested them last night,” said Eddy Haryadi, head of Lampung Immigration Office, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com on Friday.

One of the immigrants, Alli Waris -the only one able to converse in English-, said that the group departed from Malaysia on a fishing boat on Wednesday.

Alli, who claimed being a medical doctor and had worked in Kuala Lumpur, said not all Afghan migrant run away from their country because of warfare.

“Most get out of the country to look for jobs or start a new life in Australia or Europe,”he said.

The immigration office has arrested 63 illegal Afghan migrants over the past two months. (dre)