Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The Indonesia Coast Guard managed to arrest 47 Indonesian migrant workers from Malaysia for illegally entering the archipelagic country on the Nongsa waters in Batam, Riau Island province at wee hours on Wednesday (April 15).

“The Indonesia Coast Guard managed to arrest 47 Indonesian migrant workers from Malaysia on the Nongsa waters, Tanjung Mata Ikan, Batam Island, for illegally entering Indonesia from an illegal port at 2 a.m. local time,” Chief of the Indonesia Coast Guard, Vice Admiral Aan Permana said here, Wednesday (April 15).

Now the 47 Indonesian migrant workers are detained at the Indonesia Coast Guard’s base in Batam to be surrendered to joint officers in the hope the workers can enter Indonesia through an official port and undergo health protocol to prevent them from infections of the coronavirus (COVID-19), Permana said.

According to Permana, the Indonesian Coast Guard or the Indonesian Maritime Security Board (IMSB) keeps strengthening the coast guarding from the evening to early in the morning against people who want to enter Indonesia illegally.

The team on the land would also make approaches to the people to give them information on efforts to the spread of COVID-19, and bring them to the IMSB’s base in Batam, Indonesia’s Kepulauan Riau Province.

Reporting by Indonesia Window