Sept 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka Navy has arrested another 77 illegal migrants bound for Australia from the north western shores Friday.

A Fast Naval Patrol Craft attached to the Western Naval Command intercepted a multi-day fishing trawler carrying the 77 people about 20 nautical miles in the sea off Thoduwawa in Chilaw.

According to the Navy, among the arrested were 61 Tamils, 14 Sinhalese and 2 Muslims. The group, which included 75 males, a woman and a child, are residents of Jaffna, Vavuniya, Batticaloa, Puttalam, Colombo, Udappuwa, Mannar, Chilaw and Kalpitiya.

They have been escorted to Modara Harbor to be handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for further investigations.

Despite the perilous voyage and the prospects of getting detained in an Australian asylum center, nearly 2,000 Sri Lankans this year had taken the step to illegally migrate to Australia.