Authorities search for up to 30 people believed to be hiding in mangroves in the national park

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Up to 30 irregular migrants are believed to be in hiding inside Queensland’s crocodile-infested Daintree rainforest, after their boat – believed to be a fishing vessel – foundered near the mouth of the Daintree River.

Police have confirmed that a search is under way to find the migrants, who waded through waters to make landfall after their fishing junk ran aground just offshore on Sunday morning.

Eleven men, all understood to be Vietnamese, have been detained, but up to 30 more are still being sought.

Some are believed to be hiding in mangroves, which are infested with deadly salt-water crocodiles.

It is not known whether any of the migrants have sought protection from Australian authorities, or whether they are fishermen who ran into difficulties.

The operator of Daintree Fishing and Photography Tours, Dave Patterson, said he was leaving with a tour group around 8.30am when he noticed an “odd-looking wooden boat that looked like a Vietnamese-Chinese-Indonesian fishing boat” about 2km in the distance, off Cape Kimberley near the mouth of the Daintree River.

“I just thought it was a gillnetting boat,” Patterson told Guardian Australia.

“I heard later on that [other fishermen and tour operators] went up to it and there was no one aboard and it was just adrift.



“There were people on it that just bailed out of the boat,” he said, adding: “We don’t see this kind of stuff too often, or ever.”

Boats carrying asylum seekers from Vietnam reach Australian waters – or near to – with semi-regularity, but vessels are usually intercepted before they make landfall. Asylum claims are often made at sea, and people are returned to Vietnam without ever reaching Australia.

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The last asylum seekers to reach Australia by boat were six Chinese nationals who landed in Saibai island in north Queensland, travelling from Papua New Guinea, in August last year.

The Australian Border Force confirmed it was responding to what it believed was an “illegal fishing vessel in the vicinity of the Daintree River”.

“The ABF now has a contingent of officers on site and is grateful for the support provided by Queensland police service,” a spokesman said.

“The first priority is to confirm the safety and welfare of the people on the fishing vessel.”

The Douglas Shire Council mayor, Julia Leu, who lives on the edge of the Daintree national park, said the missing migrants were likely hiding in the mangroves as there was a lot of traffic on the locals roads and the “word is out” about their arrival.



Without knowledge of the area, the migrants faced significant dangers from salt-water crocodiles, Leu warned.

“I’m concerned about anyone who is unfamiliar with the rainforest. Anyone who finds themselves in crocodile habitat needs to exercise extreme common sense – especially in the Daintree,” she said.

“Certainly it would not be pleasant trying to make your way through rainforest or mangroves.”

