Does the asylum seeker boat off WA exist?

Refugee advocates say there's between 25-30 Vietnamese Catholic asylum seekers on board and it's been towed away from Dampier by the Australian Navy.

The immigration minister Peter Dutton has refused to explain where the boat is being taken and instead said the government would not comment about "on water matters".

So in the interests of finding out about this group of people (who maybe fleeing persecution), we decided to ask Mr Dutton about it over and over again at a pre-arranged government photo opportunity.

The day started with being signed in by an Australian Border Force agent. He had a shiny badge and watched over the process.

Mark Di Stefano / BuzzFeed

When Guardian journalist Paul Farrell told him who he worked for, Mr Border Force joked, "who should I search first?"

Ha ha ha ha... urgh. Good start Mr Border Force.

Then we were shown into a massive hanger for the re-launch of "Border Watch" (the customs officers who search for dodgy drugs and guns on incoming ships and flights). There were lots of high-powered guns.

Mark Di Stefano / BuzzFeed

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