Concerns raised over hotel room detention of PNG medical evacuees
Security concerns have been raised about the practice of medical evacuees being housed in Cairns hotel rooms following the recent escape of a PNG national from ABF custody.
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Security concerns have been raised about the practice of medical evacuees being housed in Cairns hotel rooms following the recent escape of a PNG national from Australia Border Force custody.
In January three illegal immigrants from Papua New Guinea were picked up in the Torres Strait before being held in Queensland Police Service custody at Thursday Island.
All three PNG nationals were interviewed and two agreed to return to their home country after their boat was provisioned and refuelled.
A third man required medical assistance and was handed over to Australia Border Force officers who brought the man to Cairns where he was housed under guard at a city hotel before escaping into the community.
According to Australian Border Force in the past 12 months, several PNG nationals have been medically evacuated to Cairns and Townsville for treatment by Queensland Health.
“The ABF liaises closely with Queensland Health while patients receive additional health treatment on the mainland,” a spokesman said.
Once a PNG national has received medical treatment, Queensland Health arranges for their return to the Torres Strait and collection by their PNG families.
Though this happens in the vast majority of cases there have been recent instances of PNG nationals avoiding repatriation by absconding from Border Force custody.
In the absence of a Cairns immigration detention centre serviced apartments and hotels are routinely used to accommodate medical evacuees and an ABF officer is posted in the lobby or outside the room to ensure foreign nationals who have not entered Australia through the official immigration procedure do not abscond.
Officially Queensland Police Service stated all Cairns Post inquiries needed to go through the ABF.
However, inside sources raised concerns about border security breaches.
The source said he believed PNG nationals entering the country illegally and medical evacuees needed to be held in more secure accommodation.
“The problem is we don’t know their history and their motivation and that is a concern when they are at large,” the source said.
“I think we need to hold them in the watch house in a sterile environment where there is no risk to the community and their health issues can be dealt with.
“My concern is it’s going to be one of my crew in a volatile situation.”
In early April heavily armed police responded to reports of an armed man after a manhunt began on April 2.
The man was captured on suburban home security cameras running through backyards with what police described as a homemade machete.
The man managed to evade capture and police continued their search on April 3 when fresh sightings of the man sparked renewed concerns from Kanimbla and Brinsmead residents.
On Sunday the man remained at large.
“How serious are (the ABF) about this issue because they are not throwing resources at it,” a police source said.
Repeated requests for information relating to the number of PNG nations who have escaped from ABF custody have gone unanswered.
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