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33 Vietnamese asylum seekers detained

KUPANG, Indonesia, March 9 (UPI) -- Thirty-three Vietnamese asylum seekers trying to reach Australia were detained after their boat ran aground in Indonesia, officials said Saturday.

The passengers fled on foot after their boat ran aground near Kupang, the Jakarta Globe reported. Police rounded them up in a three-day manhunt.

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Silvester Sili Laba, head of the local immigration office, said the asylum seekers were being held in the Kupang detention center.

The center is overcrowded with refugees, mostly from Iraq and Afghanistan, detained as they head to Australia, the report said.

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