Journalists arrive at Christmas Island on asylum boat TWO foreign journalists have been taken to the police station on Christmas Island after arriving on an asylum boat from Indonesia. The photographer and a reporter were aboard the asylum-seeker vessel escorted to the Australian territory today after being intercepted overnight. A spokeswoman for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship said the pair disembarked from the asylum boat before revealing themselves as journalists. "These people had valid travel documents and held Australian visas and they were immigration cleared on arrival," she said. One of the journalists is American and the other is Dutch. A Reuters reporter identified the pair on Twitter as writer Luke Mogelson and photographer Joel van Houdt. Mr Mogelson and Mr van Houdt are founding contributors to the website Razistan.org, which was set up to highlight the war in Afghanistan. "Our core project is a website of unique photo essays that bring into vivid relief not only the conflict and its participants but also the country and its people," it says. Mr Mogelson is based in Kabul and also writes for The New York Times Magazine, while Mr van Houdt's photographs have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, according to the website. Border Protection Command said HMAS Armidale went to the aid of the boat north of Christmas Island overnight. It appeared to be carrying 57 passengers and two crew. It is the first asylum boat to reach Christmas Island since the Coalition won the federal election. While the asylum-seekers were taken into immigration detention, the two journalists were taken by Australian Federal Police to the local police station.