7 Apr 2013

Boat people arrested

7:01 am on 7 April 2013

Police in Indonesia have arrested a group of Rohingya Muslims they say were planning to travel to Australia by boat from East Java province.

The group, which included 12 children, was detained on Friday night.

Police said they were arrested for not having the correct immigration documents and were in the country illegally.

The ABC reports Rohingya Muslims have been fleeing Myanmar, also known as Burma, since conflicts with Buddhists in Rakhine state flared a year ago.

Police said the group was taken to an immigration detention centre in the city of Surabaya.