Iranian Asylum Seeker Who Set Fire to Indonesia’s Detention Center Arrested

PAREPARE, KOMPAS.com – Two Iranian asylum seekers were arrested by the Parepare Immigration officers on the island of Sulawesi after running away from a detention center on Friday, May 28.

One of the asylum seekers, Ramin Poorhimanta, set fire to escape from the Parepare Immigration Detention Center. He disappeared after he was rescued by the fire and rescue department personnel.

Dodi Karnida, head of the immigration division at the South Sulawesi office of the Law and Human Rights Ministry, said that Ramin was arrested in Makassar on Saturday, May 29.

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“Ramin Poorhimanta was arrested along with his friend who was also an illegal immigrant,” Dodi said.

The arrest was made in Parepare last week following a public tip-off, Dodi said. He went to explain that Ramin has married a local in Parepare but he failed to show complete immigration documents.

Meanwhile, the arson case will be handed over to the police, according to the Parepare Immigration Office head Arief Eka Royanto.

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“We have conducted a preliminary hearing and we will bring the perpetrator to the police for committing the crime,” said Arief.

Arief further added that the fire in the detention center could have occurred because there were no officers on guard. After all, Ramin started to light the fire during the Friday prayer.

(Writer: Suddin Syamsuddin | Editor: Teuku Muhammad Valdy Arief)

Source: https://regional.kompas.com/read/2021/05/31/060927678/bakar-rumah-detensi-untuk-kabur-seorang-wn-iran-ditangkap.