April 7, 2024
Police have found a man who went missing in the far northern reaches of the remote Kimberley region after being part of a group that arrived in Australia via an unknown vessel.
The man was found on a track near the Mungalalu Truscott Airbase on Sunday afternoon and received medical treatment from a doctor at the base.
“It is unknown how or why the man became separated from his group, but he has been found to be in relatively good condition,” WA Police said in a statement.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would continue to send the message that “unauthorised arrivals” would not be settled in Australia.
However, opposition home affairs spokesman Senator James Paterson claimed the government had lost control of the nation’s borders.
The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald reported last month that a group of 15 Chinese nationals were asking fishermen in the Indonesian city of Kupang, about 500 kilometres from the northern coastline of Western Australia, how to get to Australia by boat.
The alleged plot was thwarted by a tip-off from the Australian Federal Police and the reluctance of local fishermen to make the journey in monsoonal conditions.
That group was questioned by Indonesian police, but released because they had entered the country legally.
“We can’t arrest people for asking questions,” Patar Silalahi, the crime chief of West Timor Police, said at the time.
On Sunday, Patar said the group had since left Indonesia legally and he had no information about a recent boat departure from West Timor.
Neither did police in Sukabumi, another hotspot further west on the island of Java, or the police on the island of Bali.
On learning of where the arrivals were discovered, Umar Surya Fana, who previously headed a police unit that investigated smuggling, speculated the boat may have left from East Timor.
It was unclear if Indonesia was the departure point for the latest group of Western Australian arrivals.
Indonesian fisherman, however, said the weather had been more conducive for vessels in the last few days.
They also believed smugglers were using smaller and faster boats, with better navigation systems, to avoid detection and make it out of Australian waters after dropping off their human cargo.
The federal government has come under attack from the opposition after the arrival of three boats of asylum seekers since November last year.
Albanese said Operation Sovereign Borders, led by Rear Admiral Brett Sonter of the Australian Navy, continued with the same policy Australian governments had used since 2013.
“We will deal with any unauthorised arrivals consistent with Operation Sovereign Borders, and that’s what we’ve done,” Albanese said on Sunday.
“And I do note Rear Admiral [Brett] Sonter’s very clear message that there’s been no change in policy since 2013. We’ll use all avenues at our disposal to make sure that the borders are protected and make sure we respond in accordance with the principles of Operation Sovereign Borders. And that’s what we have, again, done on this occasion.”
Albanese said people smugglers were always changing their methods and he would continue to send the message that Australia would not change its policy.
“We have a very large coastline,” Albanese said.
“What is clear though is that people who are unauthorised arrivals won’t be settled in Australia. Operation Sovereign Border principles will apply as they have been in this case.”
Paterson rejected claims the opposition was encouraging more people smuggling by highlighting that boats had arrived.
“I don’t accept that at all. It’s the job of the opposition to hold the government (to account) for its failures and there have been demonstrable failures on their watch,” Paterson said on Sunday.
“Three boats through to the Australian mainland, 13 attempted since the election, hundreds of attempted asylum seekers coming to our country as a direct result of the government’s attempts to undermine our successful border protection policies.
“We warned them before they abolished temporary protection visas, that that would give people an incentive to get on the boats again to try and come again. And lo and behold, that’s exactly what’s happened.
“If this government had followed our advice, kept in place our successful policies, this wouldn’t be happening.”
Paterson said he didn’t know if the man and his group were from China but, if so, they should be assessed for asylum in a third country.
“All I would say is, it appears they are being moved to Nauru. At Nauru, consistent with our policies which we put in place, their claims will be assessed. If they are found to be refugees, then they’ll be offered third country resettlement options, as they should.”
