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‘Unknown vessel’ lands in WA, search for missing man who arrived with group
By Alex Crowe
A search is under way for a man believed to have arrived in Western Australia by boat with a group of people on Friday.
The man was thought to have become separated from the group near Mitchell Plateau, in the far northern reaches of the remote Kimberley region.
WA police said they were advised on Saturday the man may have been a passenger on an “unknown vessel”.
Police said the land search operation was in its preliminary stages and was taking place in an extremely remote area with challenging terrain.
Last month, Rohingya refugees were rescued as their boat capsized off West Aceh, Indonesia, on their way to Australia.Credit: Reza Saifullah
The Australian has reported the group, understood to be 15 people, were Chinese nationals that had arrived at the remote Mungalalu Truscott Airbase.
Two groups of more than 40 asylum seekers from Bangladesh and Pakistan were found north of Broome in February after they arrived in WA by boat.
They were flown to an offshore detention centre on the Pacific island of Nauru.
In November, 12 people who landed a boat in another remote section of coastline in the Kimberley were taken to the government’s offshore detention centre in Nauru.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton used the arrival of the asylum seekers to accuse Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of having lost control of the country’s borders.
The Australian Border Force has been contacted for confirmation of the latest boat arrival.
A spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said, as a long-standing practice, they do not confirm or comment on operational matters.
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