Indonesian navy arrests 260 Sri Lankan migrants

JAKARTA - The Indonesian navy arrested 260 migrants from Sri Lanka who were suspected of sailing in to seek asylum in Australia, officials and media reports said Monday.

Navy spokesman Iskandar Sitompul said the Sri Lankans were intercepted on board a cargo ship Sunday in the Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra islands.

The refugees, including women and children, were taken to the Merak harbour on the western tip of Java for questioning by immigration authorities, he said.

Harry Purwanto, chief of the Banten province immigration office, said they would be sent to an immigration detention centre after their identities are established, according to the Koran Tempo newspaper.

Undocumented migrants from South Asia and the Middle East seeking better lives in Australia have for years used Indonesia as a transit country.