Men caught ‘in mangroves’ in Torres Strait after trying to enter Australia illegally

New video shows five men – believed to be asylum seekers from West Africa – covered in blankets and surrounded by Australian Border Force officers.

The men were found in mangroves on Saibai Island while trying to run from ABF officials and had been ferried into Australian waters by five PNG nationals in a dinghy.

New video has emerged of five men detained by Australian Border Force officials on Saibai Island, in the far-northern reaches of the Torres Strait, after they were caught in mangroves attempting to enter Australia illegally.

The short clip, captured by a local on Saibai, shows the five men – reportedly from West Africa – shrouded in blankets and flanked by four Border Force officers under a shelter on the island.

Saibai is only about 4km from mainland Papua New Guinea, and PNG can be seen from the Torres Strait island. The men are understood to have travelled to PNG, via Indonesia, before attempting to enter Queensland in the latest brazen bid at illegal arrival.

Refugees on Saibai Island in the Torres Strait

Saibai Island councillor Chelsea Aniba said the men were spotted on Monday by local hunters in an uninhabited part of the island, known to be crocodile habitat.

Ms Aniba told The Australian that the men – who she said were African – were then brought to the community.

“They were found in an uninhabited place, and you know where there are crocs around,” she said.

“I do not know if they were fearing for their life … who knows how long they were there for, and we don’t know how they got there.”

Ms Aniba – who was recently elected in the March local government elections – wrote to the Australian Border Force just weeks ago requesting another officer to back up Saibai’s sole monitoring officer, and asking for compliance powers for the worker.

She said the monitoring officer had no power to do anything but watch arrivals, and was always busy with traditional arrivals from Papua New Guinea under the Torres Strait Treaty.

“The department needs to work with the regional council for a better way to protect our 15 islands (of the Torres Strait Island Regional Council),” she said.

“We are all that lies between PNG and Australia.”

The group was undergoing medical checks in the Torres Strait on Tuesday evening and had travelled to PNG, via Indonesia, before attempting to enter Queensland, The Australian understands.

PNG’s Post-Courier newspaper reported the men were from the West African nation of Senegal and were travelling with fraudulent documents.

An Indonesian immigration official from Skow, the only border post between Indonesia’s Papua province and Papua New Guinea, told The Australian a number of Rwandans crossed into PNG on tourist visas on April 18.

The official said it was rare to see foreigners pass through the border crossing, which was usually only used by Papua New Guineans, Indonesians and Malaysians working in palm oil companies in PNG.

The Rwandans had obtained visas on arrival after landing at Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatta international airport.

PNG Assistant Police Commissioner Hodges Ette told Post Courier the men were found in mangroves on Saibai Island while trying to run from ABF officials and had been ferried into Australian waters by five PNG nationals in a dinghy.

“Their whole travel was to get into Australia, and they have already broken several laws including coming into the country illegally,” he said.

“While they tried to run from the border task force, they were caught at the mangroves. The men are now being dealt with in Australia.”

Torres Strait Island Regional Council mayor Philemon Mosby said it was a “reality check” for the current border protection measures.

“I’m not happy that in this day and age and the technology that we have that this has occurred, but it’s a reality check of the current system and investment and interest of Australian government presence in our region,” he said.

Liberal Party MP Warren Entsch, whose electorate of Leichhardt includes Cape York, said he was not surprised that the men had been apprehended so quickly.

He said the joint treaty zone that permits the cross-border movement of people between the islands was a dearly protected right.

“It doesn’t surprise me that they were caught,” Mr Entsch told The Australian.

“Don’t underestimate the vigilance of the locals.

“If they do see something they think isn’t right they won’t hesitate to report it. They don’t want to disturb the system that they have.”

The region is patrolled by the Army’s 51st Far North Queensland Regiment, which includes C Company, based out of Sarpeye Barracks on Thursday Island.

Most of its reservists are Torres Strait Islanders, which Mr Entsch said gave the unit a wide, trusted intelligence network.

In 2017, it was reported that a boat carrying six Chinese men and an alleged people smuggler from PNG landed on Saibai Island.

Five of the men were sent back to China, and one was charged with people smuggling, along with the Papua New Guinean national.

Under the Torres Strait Treaty – signed by PNG and Australia in 1978 and in action since 1985 – there is free movement for traditional activities between the two nations, including fishing, trading and marriage celebrations.

It is only allowed for Torres Strait Islanders from the northernmost islands (including Saibai) and the PNG Treaty Villages.

The landing of suspected asylum seekers in the Torres Strait follows a rash of illegal maritime arrivals on the West Australian mainland between November and last month.

Three boatloads of people have been detained in the six-month period on the Kimberley coast in northwest Australia, sparking increased patrols by Australian Border Force authorities on the lookout for faster boats.

None of the boats were found, leading authorities to believe faster, more seaworthy boats were being used, and then the asylum seekers were being told to hide for a few days before seeking help to allow the people smugglers to escape.

The most recent arrival, in April, was a group of about 10 Chinese men, who wandered onto an airbase in the northwest.

In February, about 40 men believed to be from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India were found on Western Australia’s remote Dampier Peninsula.

Additional reporting: Dian Septiari