Operation Nets Eight Illegals in Sydney
Media Release - DPS 88/2002
The Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) said today that it had detained eight illegal workers at a furniture factory in Padstow, Sydney in a joint operation with New South Wales Police. Of the group, seven were found to be unlawful non-citizens and one person was working in breach of his visa conditions.
All seven unlawful non-citizens were male and from the People's Republic of China. The man working in breach of visa conditions was from Malaysia.
The group has been 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 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.
8 November 2002
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