Vic: Asian fruit pickers apprehended by immigration

AAP General News (Australia)
02-19-2004
Vic: Asian fruit pickers apprehended by immigration

A group of Asian fruit pickers have been transferred to Melbourne's Maribyrnong Detention
Centre where they'll be questioned by immigration officials.

The Department of Immigration says 11 people were apprehended by Victorian police in
Murchison last night after a tip-off they were working illegally.

The group included five women and two men from Thailand, and four Malaysian women.

A further 13 people were questioned by police and immigration officials and later released.

The Department of Immigration says interviews to determine the immigration status of
the group will be finalised today.

But the department says it's believed seven of the group are in Australia unlawfully,
while the other four have been working in breach of visa conditions.

AAP RTV kh/gfr/swe/rcg a

KEYWORD: IMMIGRANTS (MELBOURNE)

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