Illegal Workers Found In Cooma
Media Release - DPS 27/2003
Four people are being held in immigration detention following compliance activity in Cooma, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) said today.
The four were located when a bus carrying workers to a farm was stopped at around 6.45 this morning on the Monaro Highway, two kilometres north of Cooma. After checking the immigration status of the nine people on board, Immigration staff found four people were working in breach of their visa conditions.
This morning's target on fruit and vegetable pickers in Cooma followed community information and recent Immigration investigations and surveillance suggesting that a number of people may be working illegally on farms in the region.
The four located, one man and three women, are Malaysian nationals and will be held at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney until their departure from Australia. Arrangements have already been made for two of the detainees to depart Australia.
From 1 July 2002 to 31 January 2003, the Department has found 1103 people working illegally in New South Wales.
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.
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.
27 March 2003
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