CANBERRA, Australia, April 4 (UPI) -- A family from Papua, Indonesia, reportedly has landed on an uninhabited Australian island, seeking asylum.
The new arrivals could increase tensions between Australia and Indonesia. Relations between the two countries were frayed two months ago by the landing of 43 refugees from Papua, The Age said.
Indonesia withdrew its ambassador after Australia granted 42 of the group political asylum.
The Rev. Yus Mawengkang, a Catholic priest in Merauke in West Papua, told the newspaper that the latest newcomers are Paulus Samkakai, a labor union leader, his wife and four children. The priest said that two fishermen took the family to Bamboo Island, which is part of Australia, in a motorboat.
Indonesia reportedly is concerned over the separatist movement in Papua, which occupies the western half of the island of New Guinea.
