Afghan immigrants relocated to Gowa

Palu immigration office relocated on Friday 16 illegal immigrants from Afghanistan to a detention center in the South Sulawesi town of Gowa.

“They left Mutiara Airport for Sultan Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar on a Lion Air flight at 7 a.m.,” acting chief of Palu immigration office Irwan Tangge told Antara news agency.

He added the International Organization for Migration covered the air fares for the Afghan people. They were originally scheduled to leave on Thursday, but no tickets were available for them that day.

Irwan said the immigrants would be quarantined at the Gowa immigration detention center pending verification of their eligibility for migration to a third country.

The immigrants were part of 29 Afghan people arrested on Monday upon arrival in Mutiara Airport and in a hoarding house on Jl. Tanjung Angin for visa violations. They were detained at a hotel because the Palu immigration detention center was already overcrowded.

On Wednesday the illegal immigrants fled the hotel, but the police recaptured 16 of them.