Police and immigration officers in Makassar, South Sulawesi, have arrested 35 illegal immigrants over the last week in Makassar and Takalar regencies, an official said.
Intelligence assistant Dwi Laksono from the Makassar Immigration Office said Saturday the immigrants were mostly from Afghanistan and Vietnam and were on their way to Australia.
“Four have been returned to Jakarta because they have complete immigration documents. The remaining 31 are being detained at a detention center in Bollangi, Gowa regency,” Dwi said.
He added the 35 immigrants had been arrested in phases. The latest arrest was of 12 people from Kodingareng by the Ujung Tanah Police.
From those 12, eight were from Afghanistan and four were from Vietnam. Ujung Tanah Police chief Comr. Ricky Lesmana said the arrests were made possible due to a report from residents on Kodingareng Island.
“We received the report on Thursday morning and arrested them the same day,” he said.
He said the 12 illegal immigrants were stranded on the island at 5 a.m. after their boat sank. They offered local residents Rp 5 million to fix their boat, but the residents reported them to the police instead.
The illegal immigrants told the police they had entered South Sulawesi through Galesong, Takalar regency, using a motor boat they had bought from a local fisherman.
Dwi Laksono said that most immigrants entered the province through the coastal region of Galesong, where many residents frequently traveled between islands for fishing and trading.
Separately the Makassar detention center reported that a total of 43 illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Iran and Vietnam had been detained at the center from November to December 2009.
The center’s head Triono said the facility was currently accommodating 75 illegal immigrants, seven of whom were children, although its actual capacity was only 50.
This number, he said, excluded 29 others from Afghanistan, Iran, Vietnam and Pakistan who were currently being detained at International Organization for Migration (IOM) detention centers spread across nine locations in the region.
Triono said he had asked the police and immigration office not to send more illegal immigrants to the center, fearing the overcrowded condition would create more conflict among detainees.
He added that he had coordinated with other detention centers including one in Surabaya, East Java, but they were suffering similar problems.
“We cannot just force them to receive more immigrants. They have to be sent to other detention centers,” said Triono, adding that his office had also been seeking a solution with the immigration directorate general.
Triono also said there were still illegal immigrants in South Sulawesi whose existence had not yet been detected by the authorities.
“I’m sure more will be arrested if the police conduct raids especially because the openness of the Sulawesi islands makes it easier for foreigners to enter illegally,” he said.
