Police locate missing boat arrival in remote WA

After an extensive drone search in croc-infested WA territory, police have found a man who became separated from the latest group of illegal maritime arrivals in the far north Kimberley region.

Mungalalu Truscott Airbase in Western Australia which during World War II was known as Truscott Airfield.

After an extensive drone search in croc-infested WA territory, authorities have located a man who became separated from the latest group of illegal maritime arrivals in the far north Kimberley region.

On Sunday afternoon, WA Police issued a statement confirming the man had been found a short time ago and was in “relatively good condition”. The man was still at the Truscott airstrip shortly after noon local time, according to the statement, which meant he had not yet been taken to Nauru with the rest of the group.

“During a preliminary ground appreciation, WA Police officers located the man standing on a track not far from the Truscott Air Base,” police said.

“It has been confirmed the man was part of a group that arrived to Australia via an unknown vessel.

“It is unknown how or why the man became separated from his group, but he has been found to be in relatively good condition.”

“He is currently receiving medical treatment from a doctor at the Truscott Airbase.”

Once authorities became aware from other members of the group that one man was unaccounted for, there were grave concerns for him.

The area is hot, rugged and populated by saltwater crocodiles and snakes.

Drones were used in the search the missing man. Picture: Flightradar24

The latest group – the third known arrival since November – is understood to comprise 15 people, arrived at the old WWII Truscott airbase in an extremely remote pocket of the far north Kimberley region of Western Australia late on Friday afternoon. The airbase is owned by the Wunambal Gaambera people who run it as a commercial airstrip.

The Australian Border Force has not commented on the arrivals, in keeping with a practice established by the Coalition in 2013, but both residents of the region and sources close to the operation have told The Australian the people in the group are being treated as illegal boat arrivals.

Mungalalu-Truscott Airbase in WA's Mitchell Plateau. Picture: Google Maps

Two sources said the group is thought to be Chinese. The last known Chinese to arrive by boat in Australia were Falung Gong. They sailed into Darwin Harbour in 2012.

It is understood the asylum seekers will be transported to the Nauru regional processing centre. A plane was scheduled to stop briefly at RAAF Amberley base in Queensland for refuelling before travelling on to Nauru.

Flight tracking data shows the plane departed RAAF Curtin base in Western Australia early on Sunday morning en route to Queensland.

After arriving at Amberley at 11.55am, the plane will remain on the tarmac for 35 minutes before flying to Nauru.

Truscott airbase is on the Anjo peninsula where saltwater crocodiles are known to permanently inhabit. Many freshwater crocodiles inhabit the waterways that lead to the mangroves on the peninsula but they are fish eaters.

The larger saltwater crocodiles are capable of stalking and killing humans and their tracks are often sighted on beaches nearest to the airbase. Traditional owners of the area are extremely careful when launching boats and share among themselves and visitors their detailed and up-to-date knowledge about which crocodiles patrol which territories.

Aboriginal men Elton Waina and Kevin Williams freshwater croc hunting on their Wanjina Wunggurr country near Truscott air base. Picture: Colin Murty

A source involved in the operation told The Australian there were 15 people in the group that reached Truscott airbase. They all appeared to be of Chinese descent.

Some had already been removed by ABF and the remainder were due to be flown out of Truscott on Sunday, the source said.

More than 100 ADF personnel were believed to be at the Truscott airbase on Saturday afternoon as a direct response to the arrivals.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil.

The group wandered into Truscott at about 4pm on Friday, prompting a flurry of border force activity. Artillery drones have been searching the region all of Saturday for any sign of a boat or other arrivals using Truscott airbase and Troughton Island as a base.

While the Kimberley coast is vast, the latest suspected boat arrival has been especially concerning for authorities because government aircraft have been assiduously patrolling the coast and the edges of Australian waters for possible smuggling operations.

It is extremely rare in recent years for asylum seekers to arrive on the Australian mainland by boat but the group believed to have arrived on Friday would be the third confirmed landing in five months.

There is now a strong belief inside ABF that people smugglers have dumped their past practice of using slow and rickety wooden vessels, which they deliberately chose because ABF burns boats on intercept. Smugglers are now thought to be trying to test Australia’s resolve using high-powered fishing vessels that can reach the Australian coast and get back into international waters in a short window of time.

One group walked into Truscott in November last year. In February, 39 men from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh arrived on the Dampier Peninsula north of Broome – also on the Kimberley coast – and were discovered in two separate groups hours apart.

So far, every person who has reached the Australian mainland by boat since November has been removed to Nauru.

The arrival of an Air Nauru jet at Curtin airbase in the Kimberley late on Saturday led to speculation the government intends to take the group to the Pacific Island nation.

Dozens of other recent boat arrivals – mainly Bangladeshi and Pakistani men – are already being processed at the Nauru immigration centre.

Australian Border Force officials last year had to transfer asylum seekers to Darwin briefly before flying them on to Nauru. The ABF typically scrambles to transfer boat arrivals to Nauru as quickly as possible in order to avoid them remaining in-country for an extended period of time.

A spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil did not offer details or confirm the operation.

“As a long standing practice we do not comment on operational matters,” the spokesperson said.

While neither the minister nor ABF provide commentary on operations as they happen, the ABF and the government have provided details about operations that have been completed. For example, the number of arrivals and their transfers to Nauru are documented in monthly reports published online. And more details are usually provided at Senate estimates.