43 Illegal migrants Freed from Indonesian Detention by fake call

Hot News:

Indonesian News

Saturday, 27 February 2010 06:48

Kupang, VOI News - A phony phone call allowed scores of illegal immigrants from Afghanistan and Turkey to walk away from police detention on a small island in eastern Indonesia, and the fugitives are believed to be already in Australia, police said on Friday. The 43 immigrants were stranded on Sabu Island’s Mania Beach in East Nusa Tenggara in January and have since been in local district police custody.

But the province’s police chief, Brig. Gen Antonius Bambang Suedi, said they escaped after a man claiming to be a senior officer with the National Police’s immigration task force on Tuesday called the West Sabu district police chief and asked them to be released.

The person on the telephone, who later turned out to be an imposter, told West Sabu police chief Yoseph Kalasansius Dhosa to release the 43 illegal immigrants and allow them to leave for the provincial capital of Kupang, Suedi said.

He said he suspected the caller was part of a syndicate of people smugglers from West Nusa Tenggara that had secured a ship to transport the immigrants.

“We were conned by the syndicate, because later on, [the immigrants] got on the ship, and in the middle of the journey they changed direction to Sand Island, Australia,” he said.

The ship carrying the immigrants was not guarded by any police officers, so the group was able to escape easily, Suedi said, adding that the ship was now likely already in Australia.

Suedi said Dhosa would be questioned because he was specifically asked to hold the immigrants until the immigrant task force arrived to pick them up.

Meanwhile, the province’s law and human rights office chief, Rindang Napitupulu said the location of the immigrants remained unknown. The head of Sabu Raijua district, Thobias Uly, said the immigrants embarked for Kupang on Tuesday, but he did not know any details of the escape.

“All I know is they have departed to Kupang. If they are now already in Australia, I have no information about that at all,” he said. On Wednesday, five Afghans escaped from the provincial immigrants detention house in Kupang, though four had so far been recaptured. They had been on their way to East Timor.

Indonesia is increasingly being used as a stepping stone for illegal immigrants en route to Australia. jg

Comments

Add New

RSS

Write comment

Name:

Email:

Website:

Title:

UBBCode:

Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

< Prev		Next >

Dignitorial

Formation of Military Reserve Component » The government’s plan to recruit civilians as military reserve component has caused multi-interpretations and worries. When is Indonesia about to be free from bribery po... » In various aspects within the government of Indonesia, it is undeniable that bribery scandals or so-called ‘peras-memeras’ Fighting against terrorism network across Indonesi... » To prevent the new cells of potential terrorists, the National Police –Polri must be able to fight against terrorism network

Feature

Mount Bintan » Mt Bintan is the only mountain found in Bintan Island, Riau Islands province. It is only about 400 meters above sea-level so from afar it looks just like a hill. To go to the mountain, you must first ... Visiting Lake Air Tawar in Nangroe Aceh Darussalam » Nangroe Aceh Darussalam is in the western most of Indonesia on the tip of Sumatra Island. Nangroe Aceh Darussalam Province borders on Benggala bay in the north, Indian Ocean in the west, Malaka Strait... A Visit To Muara Takus Temple, Riau » Muara Takus Temple is a Buddhist temple complex, thought to belong to the Sriwijaya empire. It is situated in Kampar Regency in Riau province, Sumatra, Indonesia.

Search

Facebookfans

Our Support Officer

VOI - Voice Of Indonesia

Location:

Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat 4-5, 4^th

Jakarta, 10110

Indonesia

Phone :

+62-21-3456811

Fax:

+62-21-3500990

FeedBack:

feedback@voi.co.id

Live Streaming

AV on Demand

Top Headlines

Mount Sinabung Erupted after 400 Years Quiet Langkat - Mount Sinabung (2.460 meters above sea level) located in Tanah Karo district, North Sumatra...
Indonesia not to recall its ambassador to Malaysia: Minister Jakarta - The Indonesian government has decided to keep its ambassador to Malaysia at his post ...
SBY: I will leave office in 2014 Jakarta - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asserted on Wednesday he had no intention to extend ...

Select Language