Boat carrying Sri Lankan asylum seekers arrives in Cocos Islands
May 3, 2016 11:41 am
A boat carrying Sri Lankan asylum seekers has reportedly arrived at the Cocos Islands, according to locals.
The ABC is reporting the vessel arrived on Monday morning in bad weather.
It would be the first asylum seeker boat to have arrived in Australia in nearly two years.
Local Awie Rasa said he saw the 10-11m wooden boat coming through the passage of the entrance to the main lagoon between the two largest islands about 10:45am.
He said there were about 12 people on board.
Another local man said Australian Federal Police escorted the boat to a mooring and were soon joined by two Border Force launches.
A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s said: “We don’t comment on on-water matters.”
A Border Force spokesperson also said the Department would not comment on operational matters.
The last asylum seeker boat reported to arrive in Australia was a vessel of 157 people intercepted in June 2014 near Christmas Island.
Source: The Australian
-Agencies
