Six foreign nationals detained in remote Western Australia
A group of six foreign nationals has been detained after being discovered outside a remote Indigenous community.
A group of six foreign nationals has been detained after being discovered outside a remote Indigenous community in northern Western Australia.
An off-duty police officer located two men about 12km north of Kalumburu on Monday, Western Australia Police said in a statement.
Police allege the men arrived in Australian via an unknown vessel and were part of a group.
A subsequent search located four additional men, who are the remaining members of the group, in the Kalumburu area on Tuesday.
The men were conveyed to Kalumburu Multi-Functional Police Facility for medical assessment.
In a statement, an Australian Border Force spokesperson said the organisation did not comment on operational matters.
The men are understood to have since been detained by the ABF.
Kalumburu is one of Western Australia’s northernmost settlements in Western Australia, about 3000km from Perth.
Reacting to the arrivals, opposition home affairs spokesman Jono Duniam said it showed the Labor was “failing at our borders”.
“At least eight boats have now illegally reached the Australian mainland as part of at least 37 attempts since Labor came to government,” Senator Jonathon Duniam said.
“Illegal arrivals are ticking up again under the Albanese government.
“People smugglers know that Labor are always weak on managing Australia’s borders and are escalating their trade.”
He also accused the Albanese government of scaling back aerial surveillance -- claims Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has denied.
The detentions comes after 39 men who claimed to be from Pakistan and Bangladesh came ashore in February at Beagle Bay, in the Kimberley region.
The arrival of the 39 men, who are understood to have come by boat, was the first such incident in years.
In April, a group of Chinese nationals walked into the remote Truscott air base, north west of Kalumburu.
The men were also detained by the ABF after reportedly asking for asylum.
Originally published as Six foreign nationals detained in remote Western Australia
