- AP Photo
VIVAnews – Indonesia's Consul General in Sydney, Australia, Gery Yusuf, said that about 500 Indonesian nationals have been arrested by the Australian government and locked up in several penitentiaries for entering the country illegally. Indonesia's Consulate General managed to bring home three Indonesian nationals from East Nusa Tenggara out of the said amount who are minors.
“These three children could be brought home as they are categorized as minors. We managed to bring them home after going through tough lobbying and negotiation,” said Gery at Ngurah Rai airport, Bali, accompanying the three boys, Wednesday, July 13, 2011.
The three boys were Yoseph Lanie, Martinus Lanu and John Ndolu. From their brief statement, Gery said he came to know that they had been arrested since 2010. They came to Australia because they were enticed to take tourists to the country with the payment of Rp5 million for each tourist.
“But they weren’t paid and instead caught by the local police. That is the only information we have. We are still looking into it. Moreover they were just released, still shocked. After they calm down, we will reveal who made them do it, the measures and so on,” said Gery.
Gery went on to say that currently Indonesia's Consulate General in Sydney was still struggling to bring home the rest of Indonesian nationals who are still imprisoned. He acknowledged facing difficulties in the negotiations. “The rest are adults. This is the problem. But we are still trying so that they can be brought home. Whether all those citizens (500 people) went through the same way like these children is still under our investigation. We suspect that it is the same,” he said.
Yoseph Lanie, Martinus Lanu and John Ndolu were staying at a hotel in Kuta, Bali. Tomorrow (Thursday) Gery will buy them ferry ticket to East Nusa Tenggara. “We make sure that at 11, the day after tomorrow (Friday) they will have left for East Nusa Tenggara by ferry,” said Gery.
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Translated by: Indah Lestari
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