A man has been found in “relatively good condition” after becoming separated from a group of people who reached a remote pocket of the Kimberley coastline in Western Australia by boat.
A source confirmed to Guardian Australia that nine individuals had reached Australia’s mainland but did not confirm what nation they had arrived from.
The Australian Border Force said it did not comment on operational matters, continuing a longstanding tradition established by the Coalition in 2013. A spokesperson for the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, also said they would not comment on operational matters.
According to the Western Australian police force, an unknown vessel carrying a group of people landed in a remote area of the Kimberley on Friday 5 April. One person became separated from the group, police said.
In a statement on Sunday, WA police confirmed it had found the man during a land operation in an “extremely remote area” with “challenging terrain”.
“A number of WA police resources were deployed to the Mitchell Plateau area this morning … to continue search efforts for a man reported to have been missing in the area since Friday,” it said.
“During a preliminary ground appreciation, WA police officers located the man standing on a track not far from the Truscott Air Base.
“It has been confirmed the man was part of a group that arrived to Australia via an unknown vessel.”
WA police said it was unknown “how or why” the man had become separated from the group, but he was in relatively good condition and receiving medical treatment from a doctor at the Truscott Airbase.
The shadow foreign minister, Simon Birmingham, was asked about the arrival on Insiders, following reports in The Australian that the group appeared to be of Chinese descent.
Pressed on whether Chinese people seeking protection should be placed into a special category, Birmingham said “consideration of protection is done according to the legal frameworks around refugee environments”.
He then pressed the federal government on its response, noting it was “the third boat since November that appears to have made it to the Australian mainland”.
“Potentially not even making it to the Australian mainland but off-loading passengers and then departing without any detection,” he said.
“This is a big indictment on the Albanese government if that is the case.”
The incident follows the detection of 39 asylum seekers in a remote part of Western Australia in February at Beagle Bay, and at an Indigenous campsite at Pender Bay.
Authorities believed both groups arrived on the same boat, although Pender Bay is about 25km north of where the first group was found. All individuals were transported to Nauru for processing.
In November, a group of 12 people who arrived on the Western Australian coast were taken into ABF custody.
Labor has maintained the core planks of Operation Sovereign Borders, including offshore detention and turning boats back where safe to do so.
Speaking in February, O’Neil said Labor’s commitment to the policy was “absolute”.
“Every person who has attempted to reach Australia by boat since I have been minister is back in their home country, or in Nauru, having wasted thousands of dollars and having risked their lives,” she said.
• This article was amended on 8 April 2024. The number of asylum seekers in the group found in February was 39, not more than 40 as stated in an earlier version.
