Mar 13, Marawila: Sri Lanka Police Wednesday morning arrested 45 people attempting to illegally migrate to Australia.

Marawila police said the group of 34 men, 5 women and 6 children were apprehended when they were on their way on a bus and a van to the coast at Marawila area in the North Western Province.

The group was to leave on a multi-day trawler from the Marawila coast

The purported asylum seekers are residents of Kyats, Jaffna, Vavuniya and Ampara, the police said.