Chinese asylum seeker boat intercepted off Queensland coast sparks questions over Australia’s border security

A boat carrying a dozen people, believed to be Chinese asylum seekers, has been intercepted by authorities off the coast of Far North Queensland.

Australian Border Force (ABF) stopped the vessel washed ashore at a remote camping spot near Weipa, the largest town on the Cape York Peninsula, early on Tuesday morning.

The group of Chinese nationals allegedly set up camp at Pennefather Beach before they attempted to check into the nearby Albatross Bay Resort.

The group were later detained by ABF officials, who remained at the scene on Wednesday.

‘We’ve got word now that they’ve been caught,’ one camper told the ABC.

An ABF spokesman told the Daily Mail the agency does not comment on or confirm operational matters. 

But Queensland Police Minister Dan Purdie later said the group had been detained.

‘What I’ve heard today is that the people have made it ashore and police are helping ABF to detain those people,’ he said.

Pictured, an ABF helicopter hovers over the remote camping spot on Wednesday where a group of Chinese nationals allegedly came ashore 

A boat carrying a dozen people, believed to be Chinese asylum seekers, has been intercepted off Far North Queensland (Pictured, asylum seekers arrive at Christmas Island in 2013)

‘But this is an absolute embarrassment for the Albanese government. The Federal government needs to secure our borders.’

News of the suspected unauthorised arrival prompted renewed calls to strengthen Australia’s border protection. 

‘All over the news tonight, a boatload of a dozen illegal Chinese immigrants intercepted at Weipa in my electorate,’ Cook MP David Kempton said on Tuesday.

‘I have for months been advocating [that] the Federal government take seriously our porous northern borders after dozens of illegal Indonesian fishing vessels were captured in the Torres Strait.

‘That such a large vessel was able to venture so far into Australian waters before being detected proves there is much to be done.

‘We need to act now before this escalates out of control.’

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie urged the Albanese government to ‘satisfy the state they have everything at their disposal ready to go to stop these boats coming in illegally in the far north’.

At least a dozen asylum seeker boats carrying a combined 80 passengers arrived on Australia’s shores in recent months, according to the Refugee Council of Australia.

Australian Border Force stopped the boat near Weipa on the Cape York Peninsula

The suspected asylum seekers have been detained near Pennefather Beach, 80km north of Weipa

Anyone who attempts an unauthorised boat voyage to Australia will be turned back to their point of departure, returned to their home country, or transferred to a third country for processing, according to the Home Affairs department.

‘Since 2013, Australia has intercepted every boat attempting to enter illegally,’ a statement on the government website says. 

‘Every vessel is closely watched. 

‘There is zero chance of illegal migration to Australia.’