Australian counterterrorism units have stopped at least 200 people, including three teenagers, from traveling to the Middle East to join the Islamic State and other radical groups in the region in nine months.
Last August, counterterrorism forces were dispatched to eight international airports in the country. The officers have spoken to 85,000 people suspected of seeking to engage in terrorist activities.
Earlier in March, Australian authorities intercepted three teenagers, aged 16 and 17, on their way to conflict zones in the Middle East. They were returned to their families.
"The point of all this is that there is a significant and growing threat at our airports, at our borders," Peter Dutton, Australia's minister for immigration and border protection, said on Wednesday.
"It is part of the reason that the government is so absolutely determined to make sure that we stop the boats and to make sure that at our airports and our sea ports, we provide whatever support we can to those counter-terrorism unit officers, to officers within customs and border protection," he added.
