Two weeks ago, four Chinese men were dumped by people smugglers on Croker Island and forced to stomp through low-tide waters and bush for help.

Dehydrated and exhausted, the foreigners were rescued by the island’s Garngi rangers, who provided the men first aid, food and shelter.

The next day, authorities flew to the island and took the foreigners away.

Illegal fishing from foreign vessels is an increasing problem for the NT, with recent sightings of Indonesians fishing, some with weapons, hiding in mangroves around the Territory coastline and some brazenly breaking into local vehicles and stealing fuel.

Drawing from the testimonies of the rangers Bryan MacDonald, Clayton and Sonny Chainsaw, the possessions the foreign men left behind, and this masthead’s own investigation of the scene on the island, this is what we know of the men who claimed to have been escaping communist China.

The precarious journey to Australia

One ranger has told this masthead the foreign men claimed they did not know each other in China, and maintained they made their own way to Indonesia.

This masthead has since obtained a copy of one of the asylum seeker’s plane tickets, which shows he departed China in September.

In Indonesia, the rangers said the Chinese men had brokered a deal with a local fishing crew to smuggle them into Australia.

Sonny alleged prior to departure, the crew demanded each Chinese man pay $6000 USD in full.

A text message purportedly sent to one of the asylum seekers and seen by a ranger said “Just pay us the f--king money”.

Aboard the vessel, the asylum seekers claimed they were denied food and water and were forced to fend for themselves with what they had.

The rangers said the boat trip would have taken several days to reach Croker Island, by which point the Chinese men were hungry, dehydrated and suffering from heat-stroke, they said.

It was heard one of the fair-skinned asylum seekers sustained serious sunburn to his shoulders and neck, later requiring medical attention.

The group were then reportedly forced off the vessel at the first sight of land, dumped at mid-morning on Peacock Island, which is just a short walk away from the main island at low tide.

Two of the men wasted no time, crossing the water and following the western coastline.

This reporter upon retracing the steps of the two men found an empty Indonesian cigarette pack and a lighter left behind under the shade of a tree.

Less than a 100 metres away, one of the men abandoned his own shoes.

“He would have regretted that later,” Bryan told this reporter.

“He probably thought he would walk more easily on the sand without (the shoes).”

It was then, the rangers said, the two men decided to go their separate ways – with one man continuing along the beach while the other turned inland for the scrub.

What prompted the two men to split remains unknown.

However they were both found apart by the Garngi rangers later that evening.

The man who followed the coastline stumbled into an outstation where he was assisted by a local.

The second man who turned inland was found by another local face-down on a road 20 kms away from Peacock Island.

Both men were handed over to rangers who provided first aid, food and shelter.

Unbeknown to the rangers and two found men, back on Peacock Island the remaining two Chinese men were waiting for the tide to drop before taking a south-eastern route along the beach.

After walking several kilometres, the second pair of men abandoned a bag filled with clothes, which was later also found by this reporter.

Nearby lay half-a-dozen plastic bottles, one of them containing brown fluid and sea shells.

The second pair of men were saved when rangers identified them walking along the isolated beach the following morning.

With no police officer on the island, the rangers were left to supervise the asylum seekers.

Why the men say they left home

With the help of a translator app to communicate between the rangers and the four Chinese men, the Australians learned a little of the group’s story and their perilous journey.

One man claimed to the rangers his family had been “slaughtered” by the Chinese government, while another said he would kill himself if he was sent back home.

A journal found by rangers revealed one asylum seeker had written notes on immigration.

Sonny said he saw one of the Chinese men trembling in fear when authorities arrived to collect the illegals.

Clayton said he “felt sorry” for the Chinese men and said he believed their pain to be genuine.

Before the Chinese men were taken away, one of the asylum seekers gave Clayton his deceased wife’s bracelet as a show of thanks for saving his life.

Clayton said he hopes to bring the asylum seekers back to Croker Island.

“I don’t know where they are or what will happen,” he told this masthead.

“But I hope they’re safe, I hope they’re in Australia and I hope I can bring them back here and see them again.”

This publication understands all four men are no longer in Australia.

When approached for comment, Australian Border Force declined to confirm whether the men had been deported back to China or not.

“The Australian Border Force does not confirm or comment on operational matters,” a spokesperson said.

In Canberra last week in response to the initial discovery of the four foreigners and their journey to Australia, Senator James Paterson blasted the government, claiming maritime surveillance capabilities was at an “all time low”.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke rejected the criticism, accusing the Opposition of “repeating misinformation”.