A group of six Chinese nationals found in a remote northern WA Indigenous community after arriving by sea have been detained by border officials.<\/p>\n
The saga began when an off-duty police officer located two men about 12 kilometres north of Kalumburu on Monday.<\/p>\n
The duo had arrived in Australia via an unknown vessel and were part of a bigger group, a WA Police spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
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A group of men who arrived in the remote WA community of Kalumburu have been removed by Border Force officials. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
Another four men were then found at Kalumburu on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
All six men were medically assessed and deemed to be in good health.<\/p>\n
The men have since been detained by the Australian Border Force (ABF), which said it would “not comment on operational matters.”<\/p>\n
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Two men loaded on a Border Force vessel on WA’s northern coast. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
The ABC has verified images showing two of the men being taken back out to sea by border force officers.<\/p>\n
Police Minister Reece Whitby confirmed on Thursday afternoon the men were all Chinese nationals and had arrived by boat.<\/p>\n
“It is the responsibility of the Australian Border Force and they have a responsibility to protect our borders,” he said.<\/p>\n
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Reece Whitby said the men underwent medical assessments were now detained. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n
“This was a West Australian officer, off-duty, who managed to spot this issue, and then other officers quickly were engaged.”<\/p>\n
Kalumburu sits on the most northerly tip of Western Australia, about 3,000km north of Perth.<\/p>\n
‘Like a sore thumb’<\/p>\n
Kalumburu resident Esther Waina said people in the community were shocked.<\/p>\n
“We are a community of Indigenous people and non-Indigenous service providers \u2014 these people stood out like a sore thumb,” she said.<\/p>\n
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Kalumburu resident Esther Waina said people in her community were concerned about safety. (ABC News: Emily Jane Smith)<\/p>\n
“We thought they were refugees.<\/p>\n
“We were very scared \u2014 how did a group of strangers arrive on our land?<\/p>\n
“Our people live by the sea \u2014 they could just rock up and hurt any of us \u2014 we’re remote and isolated.”<\/p>\n
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The Kalumburu community is on the most northern tip of Western Australia. (\u00a0ABC News: Erin Parke)<\/p>\n
Ms Waina said community members saw “Asian men walking from the boat landing” on Monday.<\/p>\n
“Hardly anyone in the community knows what happened \u2014 it’s been kept quiet,” she said.<\/p>\n
Another man, who did not want to be named, said he arrived at Kalumburu while search efforts for the men were underway.<\/p>\n
“We got here and police came down and told us a group had been caught just up from the boat ramp,” he said.<\/p>\n
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Kalumburu’s main shipping area, on a remote beach north of town. (Supplied: ShoreBarge)<\/p>\n
“Another group had been caught in a different location, but there were two guys on the run.”<\/p>\n
The man said authorities searched through the night, with about 15 or 20 navy and army personnel arriving to assist.<\/p>\n
“[We saw] a police paddy wagon come down and they did a transfer to the ABF boat who just arrived on shore,” he said.<\/p>\n
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Suspected foreign nationals leaving the remote WA community of Kalumburu with Australian Border Force officials. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
“The ABF took the guys, put life jackets on them and took them over to their mothership for processing.”<\/p>\n
The man said he did not interact with the men nor see the vessel they arrived on.<\/p>\n
“[Police] didn’t tell us the location of where they landed, but it must have been close by because they had to walk everywhere,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mystery surrounds bogged vehicle<\/p>\n
Kalumburu is closed by road in the wet season, and part of the 260km-long dirt access track was deluged by Cyclone Fina last week.<\/a><\/p>\n So the sight of a man driving a hire car getting bogged earlier this week at the final major water crossing closest to the community surprised locals \u2014 including Ms Waina.<\/p>\n Kalumburu is at least a 12-hour-drive to the nearest town. (Emily Jane Smith)<\/p>\n “It’s just weird that someone drives a car in the wet season through closed roads,” she said.<\/p>\n Another resident, who asked not to be named, confirmed he had helped the man, who he described as being of Asian appearance.<\/p>\n He said the man asked if it was safer to return to Kununurra or Derby, both hundreds of kilometres away.<\/p>\n The ABC understands the man was interviewed by ABF officials but was released and he left on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n Boat arrivals last year<\/p>\n In February last year, 39 men who said they were from Pakistan and Bangladesh came ashore at Beagle Bay, also in WA’s remote Kimberley,<\/a> having apparently come by boat from Indonesia.<\/p>\n A group of suspected asylum seekers arrived in the small WA community of Beagle Bay last year. (ABC Kimberley: Andrew Seabourne)<\/p>\n Their arrival, the first of its kind in years, reignited a fierce political debate about border policy.<\/p>\n That group were flown to an offshore immigration detention centre in Nauru.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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