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our illegal migrants from Myanmar were reportedly arrested in Medan, the latest such case that further demonstrates the country’s proneness to being used as a transit point by asylum seekers.

Immigration officers at Polonia International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, reported that they detained the four on Wednesday as they were about to leave for Jakarta. Identified as Mohd. Ali bin Hasan, 11, Mohd. Hasyim bin Mohd. Ahmad, 18, Hasan bin Yusuf, 36, and Abdul Mabud bin Abdul Kader, 41, they did not appear to possess any immigration documents.

Agustinus Makabori, the Polonia airport immigration officer in charge of law enforcement, said they were apprehended in the domestic departure terminal at 9:30 a.m. when they were about to board a Lion Air plane headed for Jakarta.

Agustinus said the immigration office had received information from airport security officers about a suspicious group of travelers.

During interrogation, Agustinus said, the four Myanmarese failed to produce immigration papers.

He said they only held United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cards, which were issued in Malaysia.

“The four Myanmarese citizens do no possess immigration documents but only UNHCR cards. We will take them into custody for examination and later send them to Belawan [migrant center],” Agustinus said at his office on Wednesday.

One of them, Mohd. Hasyim bin Mohd. Ahmad, acknowledged that they had been in Medan for several days after arriving from Malaysia.

“We have been staying in Malaysia for a year. We only arrived in Medan on transit to Jakarta,” Hasyim said at the immigration office at the airport.

He added that they traveled from Malaysia to Medan by boat via Tanjung Balai Port and were charged RM5,000 (US$1,580) each for the ferry crossing.

Indonesia is often used as a transit point, particularly the south coast of Java Island, by people wanting to seek asylum in Australia. Based on police reports, more than 300 illegal migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Southeast Asian countries, have been arrested since January.

Many of them use the services of local fishermen and the help of security personnel on their trips to Australia.

However, when asked of their intention to visit Jakarta, Hasyim said they wished to work there.

“We want to work in Jakarta,” he said and denied that they intended to transit in Jakarta before heading to Australia.

Hasyim claimed he had friends in Jakarta, but declined to name them.

“The plan is that our friends will pick us up at the airport in Jakarta. We will stay together during our time in Jakarta,” said Hasyim.