Sri Lankan Immigrants Refuse Back Home

Mukomuko (Antara Bali) - Some 120 Sri Lankan immigrants stranded in the waters off the west coast of Sumatra island have refused to return to their social conflict-, civil war-affected homeland, a spokesman said.

"They do not want to return to their country. They want to lead a peaceful and tranquil life by fleeing their country and seeking asylum in other country," Budiman Siboro, an interpreter of the Mukomuko district government, Bengkulu province, said on Saturday.

With the conflict still affecting their country, they saw what they had done by leaving their country as a proper decision to save their children's and wives' lives, he said.

"In essence, they want to lead a peaceful and tranquil life without being haunted by a conflict that may threaten their life any time," he said.

The 120 immigrants who mostly worked as fishermen and construction workers in Sri Lanka left their country on March 7, 2013. One of the immigrants is a doctor.

They were stranded in the waters in Air Rami sub-district, Bengkulu province, on Thursday (March 28) after the boat in which they were traveling ran out of diesel oil. (*/M038/DWA)