MAKASSAR, Indonesia: Indonesia’s navy detained 82 asylum seekers including scores of Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar when their boat ran aground as they headed to Australia, an immigration official said on Friday.

The 51 Rohingya, 24 Iranians and seven Somalis had been heading from Sulawesi island, in the east of the country, to East Nusa Tenggara, one of the closest Indonesian provinces to Australia, he said.

An increasing number of Rohingya, described by the UN as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities, have been arriving in Indonesia as they flee Buddhist-Muslim violence which erupted in their home state of Rakhine last year.

“They were heading to Australia, as usual,” immigration official Muhammad Bakri told AFP.

The boat left from southwest Sulawesi but their boat ran aground nearby and they were picked up by a naval patrol, he said.