Thousands of asylum seekers turned back

More than 3300 asylum-seekers have been prevented from entering Australian waters in the past five years, while 33 boats have been turned back or stopped, but the federal government says the threat of people smuggling remains.

Cooperation with neighbouring countries has led to the disruption of dozens of attempts at illegal immigration, with most generated from Indonesia, The Australian reported on Wednesday.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says the government is aware of people-smuggling ventures being planned in Indonesia and other nations, with the paper saying there were 52 successful disruptions to ventures planned in Indonesia, compared to 15 in Sri Lanka, 10 in Malaysia and one in Pakistan.