73 Illegals Detained in Immigration Crackdown
Media Release - DPS 74/2002
The Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) said today that it had located a total of 73 unlawful non-citizens and people breaching visa conditions, in a crackdown on illegal workers in the construction industry over the last month.
DIMIA officers attended 43 premises across Sydney and the Hunter region, during the period 9-19 September 2002 and located 59 people who were working illegally in the construction industry.
Another 14 dependent relatives of the workers, also in the country illegally, were located as a result of the operations.
Of the 59 employed in the construction industry 34 were working as tilers, 20 were working as gyprockers, 4 were working a labourers and one was working as a painter.
Those detained in the compliance operations included 38 people from the Republic of South Korea, 23 from the People's Republic of China, 5 from the Philippines, 2 from Ireland, 2 from Indonesia and one each from Malaysia, Pakistan and the Ukraine.
All those located in the compliance operations were detained and will remain at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre while arrangements are made for their departure from Australia, as required by law.
The series of operations were undertaken following a number of reports from numerous sources about illegal workers in the Sydney construction industry. DIMIA takes all complaints seriously and fully investigates all allegations.
In the 2001-02 financial year the Department located 17,307 overstayers and people breaching visa conditions.
This includes people lawfully in Australia who were found working in breach of their visa conditions as well as people who were unlawfully in the country.
The number of locations has increased significantly since 2000-01, when 14,238 overstayers and people breaching visa conditions were detained.
DIMIA officers make regular visits to workplaces in many parts of Australia, such as restaurants, farms, shops, offices, factories and brothels, in an effort to detect and locate people who are in the country illegally or who are working illegally.
DIMIA may also issue warning notices to employers or labour suppliers who are found to have employed illegal workers.
20 September 2002
Media inquiries: Public Affairs (02) 6264 2244