Two dozen asylum seekers stranded in Indonesia say Australian authorities blew up the boat that was carrying them toward Christmas Island then sent them back in a lifeboat, Indonesian officials say.
The Indonesia Search and Rescue Agency evacuated 26 migrants after the local navy found the lifeboat stranded on Monday near Agropeni beach in Kebumen district of Central Java. The asylum seekers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Iran are being held at the local immigration office in the nearby district of Cilacap, said Imam Prawira, the office's head of investigation and enforcement. Prawira said, according a Pakistani migrant, they were rejected near the maritime border by Australia, which transferred them into the lifeboat. Kebumen police Capt Warsidi said two of three Indonesian crew were being questioned while another escaped. According to Kebumen police, the migrants left for Christmas Island from West Java last Wednesday. Three days later, they arrived near the border but were intercepted by an Australian warship which blew up their wooden boat. The orange lifeboat was equipped with television, navigation equipment, batteries and foods, police said. It was the second lifeboat with turned-back asylum seekers stranded in Java's southern coast this month. Indonesia's vast chain of islands is a popular transit point for people fleeing war-torn countries to reach Australia.
NEXT THEY WILL WANT TO SUE FOR DAMAGE TO THEIR BOATS.
