Residents along WA’s northern coast have expressed concern that a boatload of Chinese could walk ashore towards an airbase long before they were detected by authorities.
The ship carrying 15 Chinese nationals landed at the remote Mungalalu Truscott airbase in early April, and it took days for an Australian Defense Force operation to locate them all.
It was the fourth people-smuggling boat to arrive in the area since November last year, despite the government patrolling the area with unmanned drones launched from the same air base where the illegal immigrants had roamed.
Madeline Gallagher-Dann, chief executive of the nearby largely Indigenous community of Kalumburu, said she was concerned about the possibility of more undetected arrivals.
“It’s pretty scary to think that they came this far and landed not too far from us,” he told ABC 7.30.
‘(Border protection) could be done much better because we are open and vulnerable here.
‘Imagine walking along the beach and meeting those guys. Not only that, their health could also be a problem, they could harbor viruses or diseases that could affect people here.’
Madeline Gallagher-Dann, executive director of the Kalumburu community, near where a group of illegal immigrants landed undetected, said she is concerned that the local indigenous population is vulnerable to viruses and diseases.
A group of about 15 asylum seekers arrived by boat in a remote part (pictured) of Western Australia. Four illegal vessels have landed without being detected since last November
Unmanned drones have been patrolling the stretch of coastline since December in support of Operation Sovereign Borders after another boatload of illegal immigrants from Pakistan arrived ashore a month earlier.
But Exmouth Council Shire president Matthew Nikkula said drone surveillance was an insufficient reaction and there needed to be a permanent presence to protect Australia’s northwest coast.
‘How the hell did this happen? Is our coast so weakly defended? he said.
Exmouth Council chairman Matthew Nikkula said WA’s north-west coast is vulnerable and needs better security.
‘If a random ship can arrive and people can walk into an air base, what else is going on in the north?’
He is president of the Northwest Defense Alliance = consisting of seven councils along WA’s north-west coast, which says residents are at risk of biosecurity breaches, drug releases and potential attacks on export infrastructure in the Pilbara.
“Yes, four ships have been detected in the last six months, but that only raises the question of how many are passing and how easy it is to land on shore.” said Mr. Nikkula.
“We need to see key assets and infrastructure here and much more presence.”
Defense Forces personnel were sent to the area after the Chinese nationals arrived on shore and a charter plane flew from Truscott airbase to Perth with some of the asylum seekers on board more than 24 hours later.
But at least one of the group was missing and was not located until much later.
A charter plane reportedly flew from Mungalalu Truscott airbase (pictured) to Perth carrying some of the asylum seekers, but one man was missing and was not found until days later.
Drones launched from Truscott Air Base have been patrolling the coast (pictured) since November, but illegal immigrants were still able to reach the air base undetected.
Indigenous elder Les French said Indonesian boats regularly carry out illegal fishing around Niiwalarra Island and they can often see boat lights and campfires in the distance.
A few years ago he found a group of Indonesian men who had shown up on the coast and guarded them, armed with a shotgun, until the authorities arrived hours later.
His grandson, Lancho Davey, who runs a tour company that takes visitors to Honeymoon Bay, a short distance from Truscott, said he regularly finds piles of rubbish with Indonesian wrappers left by groups.
The couple said that not only locals are at risk, but also migrants, as people smugglers often pile them unprepared into rickety boats, and when they are washed ashore there is no food or water, plus crocodiles lurking in the swamps.
The Australian Border Force said it had sufficient resources in the area.
“The ABF does not go into detail about assessments and capability requirements, beyond saying that we are adequately resourced and prepared to address…threats to maritime security.”
This week, Maritime Border Command, a multi-agency task force using Australian Border Force and Australian Defense Force resources, said it had detained three illegal fishing boats in the region last month.
Australian authorities stopped an illegal Indonesian fishing boat off the Kimberley coast in March (pictured)
In partnership with the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, he said there was intercepted two of the vessels at Kimberley Marine Park and the other at Rowley Shoals Marine Park.
The task force confiscated fishing equipment, 100 kilograms of salt used to preserve fish and 20 kilograms of sea cucumber known in Indonesia as trepang.
The ships were eliminated at sea with the crew of each ship transported to Darwin.
Fifteen crew were charged with offenses against the Fisheries Management Act and pleaded guilty in Darwin Local Court on 11 April.
Authorities said a series of financial penalties totaling $31,300 were imposed.