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Mataram. An unassuming hotel in the Ampenan area of Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, became a temporary shelter for the last two days for some 42 asylum seekers from Afghanistan.

The refugees were arrested by provincial authorities in Teluk Nare, North Lombok, early on Saturday morning just as they were about to embark on a wooden ship bound for Australia.

They were originally planning to use the cover of darkness to avoid detection, but police were waiting at the scene. The ship’s crew escaped.

Four police officers guarded the hotel on Monday, which has since been transformed into a temporary shelter.

Some officers were spotted playing video games with the teenage asylum seekers while their older counterparts watched or slept, shirtless. “Excuse us for not dressing properly. We only have the clothes that we wear and our shirts are being washed,” said one asylum-seeker who said his name was Nadir Ali.

He said he was trying to sail to Australia with the help of a man named Mulawarman, whom he met in Jakarta. Ali agreed to pay the man $8,000 for transporting him to Australia.

“We came to Lombok island by plane and then were transported by bus to Teluk Nare. From there we were promised to cross to Australia in a wooden ship, but we got arrested,” he said.

Ali said he left his country two years ago after the Taliban targeted his family.

Fellow refugee Tahir, 65, said he had spent around half his lifetime on the run.

“In my country, there are only two choices, join the Taliban or become an enemy of the Taliban. Since I refused to join the Taliban, me and my eight children fled Afghanistan to Pakistan. My children are still in Pakistan and are now in danger,” he said.

Dorhan, head of the supervision and enforcement section at the Mataram immigration office, said his office had contacted the International Organization for Migration to formulate the best solution for the asylum-seekers.

On Monday, several doctors from the International Organization for Migration came to the hotel to check on the refugees’ condition.

Several refugees, Dorhan said, entered the country legally and wished to return to Jakarta, where they had been waiting for recognition from the UN refugee agency. The asylum-seekers, he said, had grown impatient with the arduous process set by the agency and chose to risk entering Australia illegally.

Most of the people arrested, the immigration officials continued, were unable to show proper documentation except several people who carried a piece of paper from their temporary shelters in Jakarta.

Police had also questioned the asylum-seekers to find information on how they came to Lombok and planned to make their journey to Australia.

Police are also seeking information on whether the people-smuggling syndicate used a middleman based in the province for its operation.

Dorhan said that with few facilities to host the asylum seekers, Mataram immigration had urged the IOM to relocate them to other cities like Jakarta or Makassar.

One officer said the refugees were in good condition but are in need of clothes.

“Four people tried to escape on [Monday] morning, probably out of desperation. I chased them and they tried to hide, but luckily we were able to find them,” the officer said.

Saturday’s arrest came after police in Dompu district on the neighboring island of Sumbawa apprehended 13 asylum-seekers from Afghanistan and Palestine last week.