Indonesia moves Sri Lankan migrants to detention centre

Sri Lankan migrants who have refused to leave their boat in Indonesiafor six months boarded buses bound for a detention facility Monday as they finally agreed to be relocated.

The roughly 200 ethnic Tamils expressed both relief and concern as they left the dock in Merak, a port in southern Java, after months of negotiations over their demands to be resettled in Australia as refugees.

“I don’t know where I’ll be taken but I’m happy to leave this place,” one of the migrants, Raju, 26, told AFP.

The migrants have been on their boat or camped at the dockside since October when they were intercepted by an Australian vessel in Indonesian waters as they tried to reach northern Australia.

They have said they are fleeing persecution in Sri Lanka following the end of the country’s civil war in May, but their refugee claims have not been processed by the United Nations.

Australiarecently said it would temporarily stop processing asylum claims by Afghans and Sri Lankans in response to a sharp rise in the number of asylum seekers reaching its shores by boat.

Latif, 21, said he still wanted to go to Australia but knew it was impossible.

“After six months at the port, I don’t wish to be here anymore. Life here is hard... people keep falling sick,” he said.

“I want to go to Australiabut now I know it’s not possible. I want to go to Americaor New Zealand.

“I don’t want to stay in Indonesia... finding work will be hard here. I also don’t want to go back to Sri Lanka. There’s nothing there for me, no house, nothing,” he added.

The migrants are expected to be taken to the Australian-funded Tanjung Pinang immigration detention centre on Bintan island, near Singapore.

^AFP