"The police arrested the 31 Afghan immigrants because they did not have passports and other official documents," Yassir said.
According to him, the all male illegal immigrants of 20 to 40 years old left their country to Jakarta by Thailand and Malaysia, but the police arrested them when they arrived in Jambi.
Yassir said their main destination was Australia, but they wanted to stop over in Indonesia before crossing to Australia.
Meanwhile, Parman Ali, one of the illegal immigrants, admitted that they actually wanted to seek asylum in Australia.
"Our goal is to go to Australia to seek asylum because our country is still troubled, and therefore we hope the United Nations will help and protect us," Parman said.
The asylum seekers actually expose themselves to unforeseen dangers during their effort to reach their desired destination.
Aside from being intercepted and deported, many of them are known to have experienced other forms of hardship or even perished in unexpected ordeals.
Early this month eight illegal immigrants from Afghanistan and Iran were found dead by fishermen at Palawangan beach in Ciamis district, West Java.
Pangandaran Water Tourism Rescue Agency (Balawista) spokesman Asep Udel said the fishermen found the eight dead immigrants and rescued 14 survivors.
He said the illegal immigrants from Afghanistan and Iran were on their way to Christmas Island in Australia but their boat capsized after being hit by big waves in Pangadaran waters.
"Eight bodies of five women and three children, and 14 other wounded survivors were washed ashore at Palawangan beach before they were discovered by fishermen," Asep said. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
