Indonesian police arrest 11 illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka

Tanjungpinang (ANTARA News) - Police in Bintan in the Sumatran Kepulauan Riau province of Indonesia, arrested 11 illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka on Monday.

"We caught them hiding on the edge of Nirwana Garden Coastal Resort at around 6am," the head of the Bintan resort police, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Yohanes Widodo, said in his confirmation to ANTARA News.

He said they consisted of seven male adults, two female adults and two children."They confessed they came from Malaysia aboard an express boat to seek an asylum in Indonesia," he said.

They also said they each paid US$100 to an agency in Malaysia that arranged their journey to Indonesia, he said."The illegal immigrants have already stayed in Malaysia for a year," he added.

Yohannes said two of them possessed documents from Malaysian UNHCR  while seven others carried letters issued by the UNHCR in Malaysia.

He said the immigrants wished to seek an asylum in other countries because they felt being neglected in Malaysia."Some have told them to go to Indonesia which is better," he said.

He said the police had handed them over to the immigration office for further processing."We have coordinated with the immigration office in Tanjung Uban for their further process," he said