Bangladeshi Foreigner Pays IDR 172 Million To Qualify For Australia

Rote Police Chief AKBP Mardiono when he met the alleged immigrants from Bangladesh and Rohingya when they arrived at Bolok Port, Kupang, NTT, Thursday (11/7/2024) evening. BETWEEN ANTARA/Kornelis Kaha

KUPANG - Rote Ndao Police Chief AKBP Mardiono said the results of the examination of suspected immigrants from Bangladesh and Rohingya (Myanmar) paid Rp172 million to agents from Indonesia who facilitated them to enter the Australian territory.

"According to their confession, they have paid 50 ringgit to the agent, if converted into around Rp. 172 million," he said in Kupang as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, July 11.

This was conveyed by Mardiono when welcoming the arrival of 44 Bangladeshi foreigners and also Rohigyayang on Monday (8/7) stranded on the coast of Rote Ndao.

After the examination, the number of Rohingya foreigners stranded with Bangladeshi foreigners only amounted to five people.

"After we checked again, it turned out that the number of stranded Bangladeshi foreigners reached 39 people, while five more people were Myanmar foreigners," he said.

According to the confessions of the alleged immigrants, they departed for Australia from the southern part of West Java.

Before going to West Java, said Mardiono, they had been accommodated at a hotel in Jakarta on the 19th floor. They got information on the agent through the TikTok application.

Travel to the Australian border area by sea for three days using a wooden ship that has been prepared by the agent.

When they arrived in the border area of Indonesia Australia, according to the foreigners' confession, they were arrested and detained for 18 days on a ship owned by the Australian Border Force (ABF).

They were then trained how to drive the ship that had been prepared by ABF. Two ships were prepared so that the foreigners could sail back to Indonesia. Each ship contains 22 people.

They sailed and ended up stranded in Rote Ndao, NTT, so that they were finally rescued by residents and accommodated at the Rote Ndao Police Headquarters.

Local police officers also bought food and also drank and collected used clothes to give to these foreigners.

Currently, said Mardiono, the foreigners from Bangladesh and Myanmar have been handed over to the Immigration Office for the immigration process of the foreigners.