More than 20 people are reported to have arrived by boat in a remote part of Western Australia, with the Australian Border Force warning unauthorised arrivals will not be allowed to settle permanently in the country.
The ABF said on Friday that it was “undertaking an operation in the north-west of Western Australia” but would not provide any more information while the operation was continuing.
The reports prompted the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, to claim that “this government has lost control of our borders”, but the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Australia’s tough policies had not changed.
The ABC reported that more than 20 men, believed to have been from Pakistan and Bangladesh, were in the main street of Beagle Bay, 100km north of Broome.
The report said the men were found on the beach on Friday morning and appeared to be in good health.
The government has yet to confirm the report, but the ABF said Australia remained “committed to protecting its borders, stamping out people-smuggling and preventing vulnerable people from risking their lives on futile journeys”.
“Australia’s tough border protection policies means no one who travels unauthorised by boat will ever be allowed to settle permanently in Australia,” the ABF statement said.
“The only way to travel to Australia is legally, with an Australian visa.”
Patrick Gorman, the assistant minister to the prime minister, said governments of both political persuasions had not commented on operational matters involving Operation Sovereign Borders over the past decade.
He told ABC TV that Australians deserved better than “thuggish politicisation” of the issue by Dutton.
Dutton called on the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, to stand up to provide an explanation. Comment was sought from O’Neil.
Despite the Albanese government continuing the Coalition’s harsh Operation Sovereign Borders policies, including boat turnbacks and takebacks, the opposition has accused it of failing to prevent “unauthorised maritime arrivals” of boats carrying people seeking asylum.
In October Guardian Australia revealed a group of 11 asylum seekers had been sent to Nauru after reaching Australia, just months after the last people were removed from immigration detention on the Pacific nation.
It was the first transfer to Nauru in nine years. Eight of those 11 people, including a woman and child, have returned to their country of origin.
In November a group of 12 people who arrived on the Western Australian coast were taken into ABF custody.
Guardian Australia understands the people found in Beagle Bay are also likely to be taken to Nauru.
On Monday officials from the Department of Home Affairs said that as of 4 January there were 15 people under regional processing arrangements on Nauru.
