Batam (ANTARA News) - The Riau Islands (Kepri) provincial government is still waiting for a central government directive on what action to take regarding an Australian ship carrying Sri Lankan immigrants anchored in waters near Cempedak Island.

"We have not yet received further guidance from the central government. We need it before taking any action," Riau Islands Governor Ismeth Abdullah said in Batam on Wednesday.

He said the provincial government had rejected the immigrants arrival in Tanjungpinang because there was no presidential guidance.

"Due to the lack of central government guidance, we are very careful in taking any step. We don`t want any unwanted thing to happen. We must also protect our citizens," he said.

According to the governor, the foreign affairs ministry had so far never coordinated with the regional government on how to handle the illegal immigrants problem.

"We even do not know whether an immigration detention center exists in Tanjungpinang. If it does, it was set up without notifying us," he said referring to earlier reports that Asutralia wanted the Sri Lankan immigrants on the ship to be moved to an immigration detention house in Tanjungpinang.

Ismeth said there was a tendency always to let regional governments bear the burden of caring for illegal immigrants.

For instance, when some Afghann immigrants arrived in Riau Islands territory not long ago , the local immigration office had to bear the financial cost of the aliens` living expenses, so it requested funds from the local government.

A total of 78 illegal Sri Lankan immigrants who were arrested in Australian waters were now on board the Australian-flagged "Oceanic Viking" which had cast anchor in waters near Cempedak Island.

The Sri Lankan refugees were told to disembark for transfer to an immigration detention center in Riau Islands but they refused to budge. The immigrants had also refused to let an Indonesian medical team to check their state of health, arguing they were in good health. They were determined to stay on board the ship and demanded to be allowed to live in Australia.

The Indonesian government was also providing food for the immigrants while staying aboard the ship near Cempedak Island.

Meanwhile, two Indonesian naval ships are keeping a watch on the Oceanic Viking to ensure the safety of Sri Lankan immigrants.The Indonesian government gave the Oceanic Viking permission to anchor near Cempedak island because the ship was too large to dock at Kijang port. The permission is die to expire on Friday (Nov 6). (*)

Editor: Aditia Maruli
COPYRIGHT © 2012

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