The police of Mauk district, Tangerang regency, detained on Monday 16 migrants from Myanmar who were hiding on an offshore floating fish trap.
Chief Insp. Suhendar said that local fishermen files a police report after discovering the migrants on the fish trap earlier in the day.
"We are collecting data on the migrants. We will hand them over to the immigration office for processing," Suhendar said.
Khalid Husain, 27, one of the migrants, said they had traveled from Myanmar on a vessel heading for Australia via Malaysia and Indonesia.
"We are so scared of the ongoing political conflict that has claimed many lives," he said.
Husain said that each of them had paid the equivalent of Rp 3 million (US$309) to an agent who promised to help them enter Australia to seek asylum.
Indonesia has sheltered many migrants from the Rohingya ethnic group in Myanmar. The Rohingya, who are not recognized as a minority group by the Myanmar government, have become the target of attacks by the Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group.
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