A man has been discovered in “relatively good condition” after being separated from a group of people who reached a remote area of the Kimberley coastline in Western Australia by boat.
A source confirmed to Guardian Australia that nine individuals had reached Australia’s mainland but did not confirm their country of origin.
The Australian Border Force and the home affairs minister’s spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
Western Australia boat arrivals: what are the current laws and policies on asylum seekers?Read more
According to the Western Australian police force, an unknown vessel carrying a group of people landed in a remote area of the Kimberley on Friday 5 April. One person became separated from the group, police said.
In a statement on Sunday, WA police confirmed it had found the man following a land operation in an “extremely remote area” with “challenging terrain”.
“A number of WA Police resources were deployed to the Mitchell Plateau area this morning … to continue search efforts for a man reported to have been missing in the area since Friday,” it said.
“During a preliminary ground appreciation, WA Police officers located the man standing on a track not far from the Truscott Air Base.
“It has been confirmed the man was part of a group that arrived to Australia via an unknown vessel.”
WA Police said it was unknown “how or why” the man had become separated from the group, but he was in relatively good condition and receiving medical treatment from a doctor at the Truscott Airbase.
The shadow foreign minister, Simon Birmingham, was asked about the arrival on Insiders, following reports in The Australian that the group appeared to be of Chinese descent.
Pressed on whether Chinese people seeking protection should be placed into a special category, Birmingham said “consideration of protection is done according to the legal frameworks around refugee environments”.
He then pressed the federal government on its response, noting it was “the third boat since November that appears to have made it to the Australian mainland”.
“Potentially not even making it to the Australian mainland but off-loading passengers and then departing without any detection,” he said.
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“This is a big indictment on the Albanese government if that is the case.”
The incident follows the detection of more than 40 asylum seekers in a remote part of Western Australia in February. About 30 people were discovered at Beagle Bay, while, a short time later, about 13 individuals were found at an Indigenous campsite at Pender Bay.
Authorities believed both groups arrived on the same boat, although Pender Bay is about 25km north of where the first group was found. All individuals were transported to Nauru for…
2024-04-07 00:09:36
Post from www.theguardian.com