Police on Friday arrested 19 Afghan citizens at Lomanis Port in Cilacap, Central Java, as they were allegedly traveling "illegally" to Australia.
"They are all from Afghanistan. We are currently detaining them at the Cilacap regency police station for further questioning," Cilacap Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Guruh Ahmad told The Jakarta Post.
He said the Afghan citizens were apprehended after the National Police's intelligence division in Jakarta informed the Cilacap Police that a number of Afghans were heading to Cilacap.
They were traveling in a number of cars from the Puncak resort area in Cisarua in Bogor, West Java, he added.
"Based on that information, we later conducted surveillance around Lomanis Port in Cilacap and it turned out that they were gathering near two cars. We immediately took them to the police station," said Guruh.
He said the police also detained two drivers and two Bogor residents believed to be the agents allegedly smuggling out the illegal immigrants.
The suspects traveled in three Mitsubishi L300 minibuses and a Toyota Avanza van, and arrived in Cilacap in the early hours of Friday, he added.
Based on preliminary questioning, the Afghans admitted they were on their way to seek refuge in Australia, he said.
"However, we did not get much clear information from them. We also face language difficulties because they speak little English.
"We received more information from their agent who brought them here," said Guruh.
Guruh added the police were working together with the Cilacap Immigration Office to further investigate their presence in Cilacap. "They may have other intentions we're not aware of," said Guruh.
According to their identity cards, the agents who escorted the Afghan citizens hailed from Bekasi, West Java. They admitted to being husband and wife, Zhahad Akhtar Ali Chacha and Zarina Bibi.
Guruh said the immigrants were in possession of documents allegedly from the UNHCR.
"They possess only the UNHCR documents. We will likely send them tomorrow or the day after to Jakarta to be handed over to the immigration office, which is authorized to handle the matter," said Guruh.
One of the immigrants, Mirza Khan Haidery, 25, told the media they entered Indonesia as refugees seven months ago and intended to seek work in Jakarta, where they stayed in an apartment with support funds from the UNHCR.
He said they were unaware of the place where they were arrested because they were following instructions from their agents.
"We don't know where we are now. We were suddenly arrested by the police who said we lacked documents, despite the fact that we hold documents from the UNHCR," said Mirza in English.
He later asked the police to immediately contact UNHCR representatives in Jakarta to clarify the matter so they could be released.
