Asylum seeker boat carrying 15 ‘Chinese nationals’ lands in remote region of Western Australia – the THIRD arrival since November
A group of about 15 asylum seekers have arrived by boat in a remote part of Western Australia, the third time since last November.
The last group, believed to be Chinese, arrived at the old World War II Truscott air base in the northern Kimberley region on Friday afternoon.
WA Police are searching for a man who was on board the boat, in an incident that also prompted an Australian Defense Force operation to secure the site.
Sky News reported that about 13 Chinese walked into the airbase β which is now known as Mungalalu Truscott Airbase and is a commercial airport owned by the Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation β at around 4pm on Friday.
More than 100 Australian Defense Force personnel were at the air base on Saturday afternoon as personnel deployed artillery drones in search of other boats and illegal arrivals.
A group of about fifteen asylum seekers have arrived by boat in a remote (pictured) part of Western Australia, the third time since last November.
A charter plane reportedly flew from Mungalalu Truscott air base (pictured) to Perth on Saturday, likely carrying some or all of the asylum seekers.
Following lengthy practices, the reports have not been confirmed by Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil’s office, or by Australian Border Force spokespeople.
βThe Australian Border Force does not confirm or comment on operational matters,β a spokesperson said.
On Saturday evening, WA Police released a statement confirming they were looking for a man who was “believed to have become separated from a group of people in the Mitchell Plateau area”, where the air base is located.
The statement said the “land search operation is in its preliminary phase and is taking place in an extremely remote area with challenging terrain.”
“WA Police were advised this afternoon that the man may have been a passenger on an unidentified vessel with a group of people on board, which landed in a remote area of ββthe Kimberley District on Friday, April 5, 2024.”
Artillery drones were used Saturday to scour the region for signs of a boat or other arrivals.
A charter plane reportedly flew from Mungalalu Truscott Air Force Base to Perth on Saturday, likely carrying some or all of the asylum seekers.
The latest incident is the third unknown boat to hit WA’s coastline in six months.
In February, a boat carrying two groups of 39 Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals was found on the Dampier Peninsula north of Broome.
The men, dressed in T-shirts and pants, were reported to be in good health. They were given water at the local Beagle Bay store when temperatures reached 37 degrees Celsius.
One of the asylum seekers told the ABC they had spent five days at sea en route from Indonesia to Australia.
After being dropped off at the beach, the group walked about 35km, he said, before being picked up by locals.
He said he paid $8,000 to travel to Australia from Indonesia and hoped to apply for asylum so his family could join him.
The reported arrivals have not been confirmed by Home Secretary Clare O’Neil’s office (pictured)
ADF troops descended on the airbase this weekend to secure the area
The airbase (pictured) is now a commercial airport owned by the Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation
In November last year, Sovereign Borders Vice Admiral Justin Jones confirmed that a group of twelve refugees had outnumbered Navy border troops.
The all-male group walked through rugged bushland in 35 degrees Celsius heat and arrived at the same remote air base where the people who arrived on Friday ended up.
They were given food and water by airport staff, who described them as “in bad shape.”
In both the November and February incidents, the asylum seekers were intercepted by Australian Border Force personnel and taken to an offshore detention center on the island state of Nauru.