Eleven Detained in Qld Compliance Operation
Media Release - DPS 50/2003
Eleven people were detained following a compliance operation in the Tully area in North Queensland, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) confirmed today.
The joint operation was conducted by Immigration officers, Queensland Police, Australian Federal Police, the Australian Tax Office and Centrelink.
Police road blocks were set-up in the early hours of Thursday 31 July and intercepted individuals travelling in buses and cars and believed to be en route to work on banana farms in the Tully area.
Of those detained, three men and one woman were from Israel, four men were from India, two men were from Papua New Guinea and one man was from Tonga.
All 11 were either unlawful non-citizens or were working in breach of their visa conditions.
The group is being transferred to Cairns where they will be held in immigration detention until they are removed from Australia, as required by law.
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.
31 July 2003
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