WA Police are investigating the illegal arrival of about 30 men – believed to be from Pakistan – near an Indigenous settlement in Beagle Bay, 100 kilometres north of Broome.

The men were discovered by locals when they went looking for water.

No boat is believed to have been found and authorities are investigating the possibility the group was dropped off by Indonesian fishermen.

One of the men told the ABC that they had spent five days at sea, travelling from Indonesia to Australia.

Indonesian fishermen are known to regularly slip through the immigration ‘net’ and land on the north-west coast.

“Australia’s tough border protection policies means no one who travels unauthorised by boat will ever be allowed to settle permanently in Australia,” a Border Force spokesperson said.

“The only way to travel to Australia is legally, with an Australian visa.​”

It is believed the group were taken by locals to a local township where they were given water.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese initially was unaware of the incident. At a press conference in NSW he said: “I’ve been travelling in the car, so I haven’t been advised about that, but our policies are very, very clear, which is that boats that arrive in that fashion.

“We have policies in place to ensure that they are dealt with.”

In November last year 12 illegal arrivals from Pakistan were found in the Kimberley. They were detained and then removed to Nauru.