Compliance Operation Nets Two Illegal Sex Workers in Canberra
Media Release - DPS 35/2003
Two women have been questioned following a compliance operation on a total of six brothels around Canberra, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) confirmed today.
The joint operation, executed by Immigration officers and the Australian Federal Police (AFP), took place at five brothels in Fyshwick and one brothel in Mitchell.
During the operation, Immigration officers checked the immigration status of ten people, resulting in two women being taken into questioning detention.
The women detained were from Hong Kong and have had their visas cancelled for breaching visa conditions.
The women will be transferred to the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney where they will remain until their removal from Australia, as required by law.
Where people are located illegally in the sex industry, they are questioned as part of a structured interview about whether they have been trafficked to Australia. If any indication of people trafficking emerges, DIMIA officers are required to refer the case to the AFP.
As part of these interview procedures, the women made no claims or suggestions that they were victims of sex trafficking or sexual servitude.
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 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.
22 May 2003
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