Fresh evidence of asylum-seeker arrivals in WA

Dumped clothes and food from Indonesia have been found close to the remote WA beach where asylum-seekers came ashore last month, prompting Border Force to rush back to the area.

Australian Border Force are on their way to Dampier Peninsula to investigate evidence of a fresh illegal landing on Australian shores. This picture shows discarded items with Indonesian writing.

Australian Border Force officers were sent to the remote Dampier Peninsula north of Broome on Friday in response to a report of freshly dumped clothes and food from Indonesia, prompting speculation of a new and undetected boat arrival close to the beach where two groups of asylum-seekers came ashore last month.

Some Aboriginal residents of the peninsula are convinced the discovery indicates another and more recent undetected asylum boat arrival because the items were not at the site when the last known arrivals were taken into custody and transferred to Nauru.

Australian Border Force told residents it was deploying officers to the Dampier Peninsula after an Indigenous tour operator told them he found the items on his property on Thursday evening. He told Border Force in text messages that the items were not there a little over three weeks ago when he traversed the entire site with a ride-on mower. He was preparing the area for the tourist season when guests will camp there.

The tourist operator asked not to be named because “I don’t want to be part of their political fights about boats”.

“I just reported what I found because they need to know,” he said. “This stuff has been left there somewhere in between when I mowed there in late February and yesterday when I went back there to tidy up after the rain. The one thing I can say is it wasn’t there a week after that mob got taken away (to Nauru).”

The Weekend Australian understands that Australian Border Force did not believe at noon on Friday that the items could have come from a new boat arrival and were very likely left over from the arrivals discovered on February 16. However, at that point its officers had not been to the site to ­inspect the items.

The tourist operator said the officers who came to his property had an open mind.

“They had no idea it was there. I took them to it,” he said.

“We talked about the possibilities. It’s either a new landing or another group that has lied doggo. This stuff it doesn’t belong, nor can it belong to the men who were here in February.

“It could mean they have missed somebody. There could be someone out in the bush dead or they’ve been picked up. They were nice people (from Australian Border Force), they are doing their job. They left on good terms and I gave them frozen mangoes.”

About an hour before ABF officers reached the site of the items thought to be recently dumped, ABF released a statement.

Local authorities in Dampier Peninsula investigate alleged evidence of a fresh illegal landing on Australian shores.

“The ABF can confirm there are officers in the Beagle Bay ­region as part of ongoing community engagement activities. They are also collecting leftover debris from last month’s operation,” a spokesman said.

“The community will always have an important role to play in protecting our border and we encourage anyone with information relating to suspicious activities to contact Border Watch.

“There are no further updates on the operation commencing Friday, 16 February 2024.”

The appearance of two groups of asylum-seekers on the mainland on February 16 was a shock to authorities because it has been the past practice of people-smugglers to sail close to Christmas Island, Cocos Islands or Ashmore Reef and wait to be intercepted.

Authorities then seized and burned the smuggling vessel.

As of February 29, 54 out of 62 illegal maritime arrivals sent to Nauru since September last year remained at the offshore immigration processing centre. The Department of Home Affairs data says fewer than five of the boat arrivals were refugees and less than 55 were “not yet determined”.

Senior government sources have said many of the mainly Pakistani and Bangladeshi men are more likely economic migrants than refugees.

The Australian last month revealed eight out of 23 boat arrivals sent to Nauru in September and November last year were no longer on the Pacific island. Illegal arrivals sent to Nauru can access taxpayer-funded humanitarian settlement packages to assist their return home or to third countries.

Australian Border Force resources have been stretched since the release of 151 dangerous non-citizens from immigration detention following the High Court’s landmark NZYQ ruling in ­November.

ABF is leading the $255m ­Operation Aegis, alongside the Australian Federal Police and state and territory police. It is tasked with monitoring detainees subject to curfews and other restrictions. As of January 31, there were 113 former detainees wearing ankle bracelets.

The Albanese government has also expressed concerns that if the commonwealth loses looming High Court challenges, hundreds more immigration detainees – many with criminal backgrounds – may need to be released.

Operation Sovereign Borders is also on high alert as people-smugglers use the immigration detention chaos to promote passage to Australia. Government agencies, hindered by key countries including Iran that will not accept “involuntary returns”, are scrambling to deport as many ­illegal arrivals as they can.