T

he Australian authorities are suspected of having turned back at least 34 Middle Eastern undocumented migrants to waters off West Java, after an orange lifeboat carrying the migrants was found on Pangandaran Beach on Wednesday evening.

'€œThis is our second such finding. Some two weeks ago a lifeboat of the same type was also found on Palabuhanratu Beach, Sukabumi,'€ West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. M. Iriawan explained in Bandung on Thursday.

In Jakarta, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Thursday that Australia'€™s turn-back-the-boats policy was unhelpful amid ongoing efforts to restore damaged relations between the two countries following Australia'€™s reported spying on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his inner circle.

'€œI'€™ve said in the past that this kind of policy of transferring people from one boat to another and then directing them back to Indonesia is not really helpful,'€ Marty said on the sidelines of a meeting at the House of Representatives on Thursday.

When asked whether the recent incident in West Java would hamper reconciliation between Indonesia and Australia, Marty said: '€œIndonesia and Australia are managing and returning to where we have been and I personally remain committed to that.'€

Iriawan said the lifeboat was made in China and was 8.5 meters long, 3.2 meters wide and 1.1 meters high. It had an upper cover and had the capacity to carry between 20 and 30 people.

The lifeboat, according to Iriawan, could also be steered with the help of small propellers at its rear. Passengers could enter the lifeboat through a door on its side.

Iriawan said such a lifeboat was standard on large cargo ships and tankers. The lifeboat, found in Sukabumi, he added, used a propulsion diesel machine of a 3 knot capacity made in 2014.

On Jan. 16, a similar life boat was found on Palabuhanratu Beach but no passengers were found
inside. The police only found used packages of Malaysian food products.

On the lifeboat found in Pangandaran, the police found gallons of drinking water produced in Australia.

'€œWe'€™re thoroughly investigating the finding. Provisional information says the lifeboat departed from Australia,'€ Iriawan said.

To confirm where the lifeboat was from, a team from the detec-tive and crime unit of the West Java land and sea Police had been sent to Pangandaran. '€œWe have 34 witnesses [the undocumented migrants] to question,'€ Iriawan said.

The individuals have been handed over to the Tasikmalaya immigration office to be accommodated in a hotel in Tasikmalaya.

Iriawan said if they had departed from Australia, it would be a violation of international law.