A fishing boat carrying at least 20 suspected illegal immigrants crashed on Australia’s coastline, prompting an outcry for better border security.
The fishing boat carrying suspected asylum seekers ran aground near Cairns on Sunday, with those on board fleeing into crocodile infested waters.
Australian Border Force (ABF) confirmed 11 people had been located by its officers and police after the ‘illegal fishing vessel’ approached the mouth of the Daintree River, far north Queensland.
There has been an outcry for better border security after a fishing boat carrying at least 20 suspected illegal immigrants crashed on Australia’s coastline
Nine News reported at least 20 people were on board, but ABF has not confirmed a number.
If those in custody are confirmed as asylum seekers, the boat arrival would mark the first suspected illegal entry vessel on Australian land since 2014.
MP George Christensen was among several federal MPs calling out the government for not doing enough to secure the nation’s borders.
‘Qld borders need to be made more secure esp (especially) given proximity of PNG & Indonesia, considering level of radical Islamism in Indonesia, Malaysia & Philippines,’ he tweeted.
‘With Peter Dutton back as Home Affairs Minister, I suspect this incursion will be dealt with swiftly and that there will be more focus on border security in North Queensland,’ he later posted to Facebook.
Opposition immigration and border protection spokesman Shayne Newman pinned the arrival on the new prime minister.
‘This boat arrival falls squarely at the feet of PM Scott Morrison,’ he tweeted.
The boat came to shore at Cape Kimberley just north of the Daintree River near Cairns on Sunday (authorities pictured at the beach where the boat arrived)
More than 20 illegal immigrants are on the run after the fishing boat they were on ran aground in far north Queensland
‘Unlike the chaos and division inside the Government that has put the security of Australia’s borders at risk, Labor is a united team.’
Paramedics in Mossman treated two people in custody for fever and chills while another three were assessed.
ABF told Senate Estimates in April the last people smuggling venture under the Operation Sovereign Borders construct to reach Australia was in July 2014.
A Sri Lankan man came to Australia alone in November that year in the last documented boat arrival.