Migrants Turned Back By Australia Found Off Indonesia

A group of 16 asylum seekers has come ashore in eastern Indonesia after their boat was reportedly pushed back by Australian authorities off Christmas Island.



A police spokesperson in East Nusa Tenggara province said Friday that the stranded migrant boat was discovered overnight off of southern Timor island, and those on board were evacuated by local fishermen.



"We have secured 17 people, 16 of whom were foreign migrants and one Indonesian," Kompas.com "ed Jules Abraham Abas as saying.



"Currently they are still being interrogated."



The 13 Indians, two Nepalese and one Bangladeshi had reportedly earlier departed from Ratu Port, West Java, in a tuna-fishing vessel en route to Australia with hopes of finding employment.



The vessel was reportedly intercepted off Christmas Island -- a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean -- by Australian security forces, who replaced their boat and refilled its fuel tank before sending them back toward Indonesia.



They were discovered in Kupang, almost 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) east of Christmas Island.



A fisherman, Daniel Lani, said the boat was found bobbing in the sea, having used up its fuel.



"They were screaming for help, and we helped them to land," he said, as "ed by national news agency Antara.



Muhammad Anwar, a migrant from Bangladesh, said he had traveled for more than 10 days before arriving at Christmas Island.



"We sailed to Christmas Island in Australia. When I got there, we were detained for four days, and the ships that we took from Jakarta were destroyed," he told Antara.



He said that security officials there told him that Australia did not accept the arrival of illegal migrants from any country.



The discovery off Indonesia comes a week after reports that a small wooden boat carrying suspected asylum seekers was intercepted off Christmas Island and towed away from Australian waters.



Australia's hardline policy denies resettlement to all asylum seekers arriving by sea, even when they are found to be genuine refugees. - Endonezya