Illegal Workers Picked Up Near Millmerran
Media Release - DPS 28/2003
Seven people are in immigration detention following a joint compliance operation this morning in Millmerran, Queensland, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) said today.
The operation was conducted with the assistance of the Queensland Police Service and Centrelink following the receipt of information from the community, state police and other government agencies that illegal workers were working on olive plantations around Millmerran, 87 kilometres south-west of Toowoomba.
At approximately 5.30 this morning, Queensland Police intercepted a number of vehicles carrying farm workers on Koorogara Road, south of the Millmerran township. After checking the immigration status of 43 people, DIMIA officers found three unlawful non-citizens and four others working in breach of visa conditions.
The three unlawfuls comprised one Fijian woman, one male Romanian and one male from the Ukraine. The four found working in breach of visa conditions were all Romanian nationals - three men and one woman. The visas of all four were subsequently cancelled.
All those located will be transferred to Brisbane where they will remain in immigration detention until their departure from Australia as required by law.
Warning notices will be issued to the labour contractors found to have engaged the illegal workers.
DIMIA officers, often with assistance from state police, make regular visits to workplaces in many parts of Australia, including 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 around Australia. The number
of locations has increased significantly since 2000-01, when 14,238
overstayers and people breaching visa conditions were found.
16 April 2003
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