Twenty-Two Located In Sydney Compliance Operation
Media Release - DPS 45/2003
Twenty-two people have been located following a compliance operation on brothels in Sydney, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) confirmed today.
The joint operation, conducted by Immigration officers and the NSW Police from Kings Cross Local Area Command, took place at a number of brothels in Sydney last Saturday night, 5 July.
Of the 22 people located, three students were issued with notices of intention to consider cancellation of their visas and 19 others were detained.
Of those detained, nine women and one male were from Thailand and nine women were from Malaysia. Seven were unlawful non-citizens and 12 were working in breach of their visa conditions. All were working illegally as sex workers.
All 19 people detained were transferred to the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney. Nine people decided to leave the country and have already departed Australia to return to Malaysia.
The Department is continuing to resolve the immigration status of the remaining 10 in detention.
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.
During these interview procedures, no claims or suggestions of sex trafficking or sexual servitude were made.
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. This figure
is expected to increase this financial year. In the 2002-03 financial
year to 31 May the Department located 19,070 people who had either
overstayed or breached their visa conditions. In the same period,
12,659 people were removed.
8 July 2003
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