Police received information about the illegal people from local people who were suspicious of the foreign faces.
Madiun, East Java (ANTARA News) - The immigration office of Madiun, East Java, held 60 illegal immigrants from Middle East arrested by police at the regency of Pacitan, on Friday.

Head of the immigration office Hermansyah Siregar said the illegal immigrants were arrested in two places -- in the Tamperas fish port in the sub-district of Pacitan and in the border area of the Donorejo sub-district of the regency of Pacitan and Central Java district of Wonogiri, Pacitan.

Police received information about the illegal people from local people who were suspicious of the foreign faces.

Hermansyah said 51 of the illegal immigrants were from Iraq, five from Kuwait and four from Iran including 54 men, three women and three children.

"We do not know yet about their status whether they are political refugees seeking asylum. We have yet to make investigations," he said.

If they had violated immigration regulation they would be deported but if they are seeking political asylum they are entitled to protection, he said.

"Therefore, we need further investigation in coordination with International Organization for Migration (IOM)," he said.

As the immigration detention houses in Surabaya have been full the local immigration office has to provide accommodation for the illegal immigrants, he said .

As the number is too many, they have to be held in a hotel in Caruban near the immigration office in Madiun, he said.

"We could not predict how long they would stay in Madiun, but we will immediately start investigation in coordination with the authorities in international immigration and the foreign embassies of their respective countries, " he said.

Meanwhile while waiting for the process to progress the illegal immigrants will be provided humanity support, he said.

Police also held nine cars used by the illegal immigrants with Jakarta, Surabaya and Sidoarjo police licenses.

Police are still questioning the drivers of the cars.

Data at the Madiun Immigration Office showed that since January this year the office has handled cases of 98 illegal immigrants including the 60 immigrants . Most of them were from Middle East seeking political asylum.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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