90 Illegals Detained In Immigration Crackdown
Media Release - DPS 78/2002
The Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) said today that it had detained a further nine unlawful non-citizens and one person in breach of their visa conditions yesterday, bringing the total to 90 over the last month, in an ongoing crackdown on illegal workers in the construction industry.
Staff from DIMIA located six people from South Korea, three from the People's Republic of China and a person from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia who were in Australia unlawfully.
All those detained were located at a building site in central Sydney, nine working as tilers and one as an electrician.
The group will be transferred to the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney and will remain in detention, while arrangements are made for their departure from Australia, as required by law.
In recent weeks, DIMIA has announced that 80 unlawful non-citizens had been detained following a series of compliance operations aimed at targetting illegal workers in the building industry in the Sydney area.
Those detained in the compliance operations included people from South Korea, the People's Republic of China, the Philippines, Ireland, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and the Ukraine.
The series of operations were undertaken following information from numerous sources about illegal workers in the construction industry. DIMIA takes all complaints seriously and fully investigates all allegations.
In the 2002-03 financial year to 30 August, 897 unlawful non-citizens and those in breach of visa conditions have been located in NSW.
In the 2001-02 financial year, the Department located 17,307 overstayers and people breaching visa conditions nationally. 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.
4 October 2002
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