ALASKA is an increasingly popular destination for cruise passengers to visit, but some recent arrivals by sea are hoping to stay forever.
A pair of Russian men have piloted a small boat to a remote Alaskan island in the Bering Sea, and have requested asylum in the USA in an apparent attempt to avoid military service.
A spokesperson for the office of US Senator for Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, confirmed that the US Coast Guard was involved in the case where the fugitives left one of the coastal communities on Russia’s east coast and travelled to St Lawrence Island, which is about 60km from Siberia’s Chukotka Peninsula.
The visitors were “transported to Anchorage for inspection, which includes a screening and vetting process, and then subsequently processed in accordance with applicable US immigration laws,” officials said.