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Search after ‘illegal’ boat runs aground in croc-infested waters
SYDNEY, Aug 27, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Dozens of foreigners were believed to be
on the run Monday in an Australian mangrove rainforest after their suspected
illegal fishing boat ran aground in crocodile-infested waters.
The Australian Border Force said a “number of potential unlawful non-
citizens” were located, but did not reveal their country of origin or whether
they were fishermen or asylum-seekers.
Locals they saw people fleeing into the forest after their vessel ran
aground near Daintree River in the tropical far north of Queensland state on
Sunday.
Media reports said they may be from Vietnam, although a marine rescue
official told broadcaster ABC it was an Indonesian boat.
Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan told the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation 15 people had been detained so far. Brisbane’s Courier Mail said
up to 20 others may still be within the dense terrain.
The ancient Daintree rainforest — some 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of
popular tourist city Cairns — is home to crocodiles, snakes and the giant
cassowary flightless bird, one of the world’s deadliest due to its
aggressiveness.
State Emergency Service area controller Peter Rinaudo said his crews were
searching through the mangroves and near the mouth of the river.
“It’ll be a hard slog, it’s still quite warm in there and it’ll be tough
conditions for the guys,” he told national broadcaster ABC.
“I hope the people, however many there are, get located — it’s not a nice
area for them to be in.”
Former Border Force chief Roman Quaedvlieg tweeted Monday that Vietnamese
fishing boats “have been illegally fishing in fleets” off the far north
Queensland coast in the past two years due to their own depleted fishing
stocks.
“Possible the Daintree vessel & crew have used this activity as a staging
point to make Oz landfall & avoid returning to VN (Vietnam),” he added.
If the boat were carrying asylum-seekers, it would be the first time in
four years that such a vessel has reached Australian shores.
Asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat are either turned back
or sent to remote Pacific camps where conditions have been widely criticised.
They are blocked from resettling in Australia.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1044 hrs