Indonesia to Move Asylum-Seekers to Ambon for Immigration Processing
"They are currently under our custody but will be sent to Ambon by sea today," said Ahmad Yani, the police chief in Saumlaki town on Yamdena island.
He said the 14 men, suspected to be Kurds from Turkey, were reported by local residents to have landed on Saturday and police took them to Saumlaki for questioning.
Yani told AFP police are also seeking two or three other people who had been on the "Minasa Bone" -- believed to be the Indonesian crew.
"We do not have an immigration office here and therefore they will be sent to the provincial police headquarters in Ambon where the police will be able to liaise with the immigration office there," Yani said.
He declined to say whether the 14 had sought asylum in Indonesia, adding that there are language difficulties in communicating with them.
Yani said representatives of the International Organization for Migration are already assisting the 14 men, who are under police custody at a local inn.
"Their wooden boat is not at all seaworthy for long sea journeys and they say the Australian Navy had disabled one of its two engines," Yani said.
The boat had sailed into a storm of controversy when it arrived at Melville Island, near the northern Australian city of Darwin, last Tuesday.
It was boarded by Australian defense force personnel and its engine was disabled under a tough immigration policy adopted in 2001.
The government invoked extraordinary powers to remove Melville Island and some 4,000 others from Australia's migration zone, effectively making it impossible for the Kurds to apply for asylum.
The move drew strong criticism from the United Nations, refugee groups and opposition politicians.
Immigration minister Amanda Vanstone said Sunday that following talks with Jakarta officials, the boat was escorted to the edge of Indonesian waters before making its own way to Yamdena.