Indonesia expels Vietnamese boat
JAKARTA - A boat carrying asylum seekers from Vietnam to Australia was
expelled from an Indonesian port after being supplied with food
and water, officials said today.
The wooden fishing boat carrying 31 men, women and children
anchored last week off Tanjung Pinang, on a small island near
Singapore, after the vessel's food supply ran out.
"We sent them into international waters because they did not have
passports. They said they were leaving for Australia," said an
Indonesian security official who declined to give his name.
It was the second boatload of illegal immigrants from Vietnam that
Indonesian authorities have allowed to continue toward Australia
this month.
Last week, another boat carrying 42 Vietnamese people, including
13 women and 10 children, left for Australian waters after receiving
food, water and diesel fuel at a port in Indonesia's Kalimantan
province. Australia's government has been monitoring that vessel's progress.
Almost three decades ago, about 900,000 Vietnamese fled their
country after the communist takeover of South Vietnam in 1975.
Several hundred thousand remained for years on Indonesia's
Galang island near Singapore before they were allowed to settle in
the West as political refugees.
Agence France Presse - April 23, 2003.
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