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Sri Lankan asylum seekers stranded in Cilacap
Originally bound for Australia, a group of Tamil refugees have arrived at Cilacap with a shortage of food and desperately low on fuel
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riginally bound for Australia, a group of Tamil refugees have arrived at Cilacap with a shortage of food and desperately low on fuel.
The 26 refugees were found adrift off Cilacap, Central Java, before being escorted to port by local authorities acting on reports from local fishermen.
The groups claims to be fleeing the post-war violence of their native Sri Lanka.
"We are fleeing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam separatist group. We have been drifting for 25 days and are short of water, food and fuel," one of the boat people reported to authorities as they were brought to the Tanjung Intan Port in Cilacap on Wednesday night.
Members of the Indonesian Navy, the Sea and Air Police Unit and port security had initially encountered difficulties in persuading the refugees to go to land, with them insisting on meeting officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
"We had to assure *the refugees* they would meet the UNHCR. Only then would they agreed to go to land," Cilacap Police chief Comr. Ngajib told The Jakarta Post.
The refugees stayed overnight at the Sanjaya Hotal in Cilacap. They were still at the hotel as of Friday before being sent to the immigration office.
"We are facing a huge problem in our country. We wish to go to Australia to seek refuge, and we want to meet the UNHCR," one of them said.
He said many more Sri Lankans, also seeking refuge, were still adrift at sea.
On Tuesday, the Cilacap Port Administration received reports on the presence of a boat filled with Sri Lankan boat people drifting 80 miles northwest off Cilacap.
"On Wednesday, we approached the boat to provide help. We also wanted to find out who they really were," said Cilacap Port Administration's Sea and Coast Guard Unit chief Aher Priyatno.
Nineteen Afghans were found drifting off the Cilacap coast en route to Australia. They were not holding passports or visas but had documents issued by the UNHCR stating there were refugees.
More than 100 Afghan refugees from Afghanistan ended up in Nusakambanbgan Island on their way to Australia several years ago.
