HAZARA NEWS GHARB AUSTRALIA

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2012-11-23T21:54:00.001-08:00

Hazara News Perth Australia provides the latest news and updates of when it happens.

2009-12-02T16:31:00.001-08:00

The asylum seeker we sent home to his death

2009-11-11T04:18:00.001-08:00

TOUR Gul travelled halfway around the world to escape Afghanistan. An enemy of the Taliban, he was convinced he was a target. But in 2002, Australia rejected his plea for asylum and sent him home to his death.

"He was worried. He knew the Taliban would kill him but the government refused him," said his friend, Salem Haideri.

Mr Gul's death late last year made front-page news in Afghanistan. "A famous leader has been killed innocently, in cold blood by the the anti-Islamic forces," said the Governor of Maidan Wardak province, Mohammed Halim Fedaie. The killing of Mr Gul and another asylum seeker, Mohammed Hussain, have prompted renewed calls for Afghans denied refugee status under the former government to have their cases reopened.

The Age last week revealed four rejected asylum seekers from Afghanistan who travelled on the Tampa have now been found to be genuine refugees, after they risked a second boat trip with people smugglers.

One of the men, Asmatullah Mohammadi, said 11 asylum seekers on Nauru had been killed by the Taliban after they were sent back to Afghanistan.

The director of social justice agency the Edmund Rice Centre, Phil Glendenning, who spent six years travelling the world to investigate the fate of rejected asylum seekers, said he believed 11 deaths was a conservative figure.

Mr Glendenning has called on Immigration Minister Chris Evans to reopen the cases of rejected Afghan asylum seekers.

"Some sort of justice needs to be afforded to people who came here seeking our protection and were sent back to the Taliban," Mr Glendenning said.

Senator Evans said he was aware of the "serious questions raised about repatriations to Afghanistan under the failed Pacific Solution".

"My office has been in contact with the Edmund Rice Centre … and its findings will be carefully considered by the Government, along with further advice that I have sought from my department, before any decision is taken as to what action may be appropriate."

Mr Gul, 47, stayed in Villawood but was also released into the community. He returned to Afghanistan in 2002 after he was denied refugee status.

Mr Haideri, who met Mr Gul while he was fruit-picking in Griffith, NSW, said a lot of people had cried over his friend's death. "He said the Taliban knew him. The Taliban said: 'You've been in Australia, you are an agent."'

Mr Glendenning said Mr Gul claimed asylum in Australia because his membership of the Sayaaf party, which was part of the mujahideen, made life dangerous for him after the Taliban took over. "We believe that was the reason he was shot through the head," he said.

Mohammed Hussain, a poet who was detained on Nauru, was killed last year when he was thrown down a well by gunmen, believed to be Taliban, in front of members of his own family. His assailants then threw a hand grenade down the well and he was decapitated.

Mr Glendenning interviewed Mr Hussain in Kabul in January last year, for his documentary A Well-Founded Fear, about asylum seekers rejected during the Howard years. "I was forced to leave this country, and seeking refuge in Australia worsened my crime," he says in the film.

Afghan man Chaman Shah Nasira, who was resettled in Australia after two years on Nauru, urged the Government to reopen the rejected cases.

He said the Immigration Department had put pressure on asylum seekers to return to Afghanistan when they were denied refugee status, telling them NATO was bringing peace to the country and they would never be let into Australia.

About 400 Afghans detained on Nauru were returned to Afghanistan after having their asylum claims rejected.

NEARLY 30 Afghan failed asylum seekers flew home from Britain and France today, angry at having to rebuild their lives in a war-torn country after a d

2009-11-11T04:16:00.000-08:00

Three Afghans deported from France and 24 from Britain arrived on a joint charter aircraft at Kabul airport, an Afghan government official said.

The group's return comes a month after French police raided a migrant camp known as ``The Jungle'' in the northern city of Calais, which had become a base for illegal passage to Britain via Channel ports or the undersea rail link.

Dazed and confused, 18-year-old Miakil Gulka said he paid 1.2 million Afghanis ($27,024.11) to get to Britain.

"I don't know anything. Nobody explained to me. I was registered with the United Kingdom government, so why did they deport me? I don't know.

"I don't even have a house here, so I will leave again. I don't know yet where, but I will do it again,'' he said.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
Related Coverage
We will die, say Iraqis sent home
The Australian, 27 Oct 2009
A foot in the door
The Australian, 14 Oct 2009
France to deport failed asylum-seekers
Adelaide Now, 24 Sep 2009
France bulldozes Afghan migrant 'jungle'
Adelaide Now, 22 Sep 2009
Gendarmes impose law on 'jungle'
The Australian, 22 Sep 2009
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
Mohammad Malakhel, who paid STG8,000 ($14,174.34) to get to Britain, said he applied for asylum two years ago, but his request was refused when he turned 18 in August, leading to his arrest.

"I'm feeling so bad,'' he said.

"It's crazy. We have a lot of problems here in Afghanistan. I want to find my family now. I hope they are still in Jalalabad where I come from.''

What does the Commission do to monitor conditions and treatment of asylum seekers in immigration detention?

2009-11-11T04:02:00.001-08:00

Some asylum seekers are detained in immigration detention in Australia.

Under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (the Migration Act), asylum seekers who arrive on the Australian mainland, without a valid visa, must be held in immigration detention until they are granted a visa or removed from Australia.

Under the Migration Act, asylum seekers who arrive in excised offshore places such as Christmas Island may be detained. The current policy of the Australian Government is that all unauthorised boat arrivals in excised offshore places will be subject to mandatory detention on Christmas Island.

Some asylum seekers spend prolonged periods of time in immigration detention, either waiting for the outcome of their visa application or awaiting removal from Australia if their application has been unsuccessful.

While in immigration detention, asylum seekers may have a variety of needs including counselling for torture and trauma, access to family tracing services, interpreting and translation, medical care, education and recreational activities.

The Commission has conducted national inquiries and annual inspections focusing on the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees in immigration detention in Australia. The reports of these inquiries and inspections make a number of recommendations aimed at protecting the human rights of asylum seekers and refugees in immigration detention.:

What are the human rights of asylum seekers and refugees?

2009-11-11T04:01:00.000-08:00

Australia has obligations to protect the human rights of all asylum seekers and refugees who arrive in Australia, regardless of how or where they arrive, and whether they arrive with or without a visa.

As a party to the Refugee Convention, Australia has agreed to ensure that people who meet the definition of refugee under the Convention are not sent back to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened. This is known as the principle of non-refoulement.

In addition, Australia has obligations not to return people who face a real risk of violation of their human rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (articles 6 and 7) and the Convention Against Torture (article 3), even if they do not meet the definition of refugee under the Refugee Convention. The Convention on the Rights of the Child also requires Australia to provide special protection and assistance to refugee children and children seeking asylum in Australia.

In addition, while asylum seekers and refugees are in Australian territory (or otherwise subject to Australia’s jurisdiction), the Australian Government has obligations under various international treaties to ensure that their human rights are respected and protected. These treaties include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention Against Torture.

Who are asylum seekers and refugees?

2009-11-11T04:00:00.000-08:00

An asylum seeker is someone who has fled their own country and applies to the government of another country for protection as a refugee.

According to the United Nations Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (the Refugee Convention), a refugee is someone who is outside their own country and cannot return due to a well-founded fear of persecution because of their:

race
religion
nationality
membership of a particular social group
political opinion.
The term ‘asylum seekers’ refers to all people who apply for refugee protection, whether or not they are officially determined to be refugees.

To get a protection visa to live in Australia, asylum seekers must show that they satisfy the definition of refugee in the Refugee Convention and that Australia has an obligation to protect them.

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Prime Minister Kevin Rudd needs to stem the flow of asylum seekers

2009-11-02T03:13:00.007-08:00

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd needs to stem the flow of asylum seekers instead of relying on Indonesia to do the heavy lifting, the federal opposition says.

"The flow (of asylum seekers) is back on full strength and it is a deadly business," opposition immigration spokeswoman Sharman Stone told ABC Television today.

"And that is why we are saying: 'Look, Prime Minister Rudd, look you do something right now other than just calling in Indonesia to do your heavy lifting'."

Dr Stone said the number of asylum seekers had increased from about three boats in 2002/03 to 41 boats since the Labor government "softened" its policy last year.

If the opposition had been in power, the problem wouldn't exist, she said.

"We wouldn't have the problem in the first position, because we had zero boat problems, effectively, when we were in government," she said.

"If Prime Minister Rudd refused to deal with the problem he has created, and we got to our change of government with us in power, you would stand by and see us with a strategic package bringing all of this to a crunch very, very quickly."

The debate was heightened yesterday after two boats, possibly loaded with asylum seekers believed to be heading to Australia, issued distress signals in Malaysian and Indonesian waters.

The Australian navy is on standby to help in the rescue operation led by search and rescue authorities from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong today said that HMAS Armidale had made contact with one of the boats and everyone on board was believed to be safe.

She defended the government's "tough but humane and fair" approach, saying the situation was a difficult one.

"We have allocated substantial resources in the last budget to border protection," she told Network Ten.

"Obviously, the situation around the world has meant many push factors are increasing the number of people seeking to go elsewhere and this is the situation the government is seeking to manage."

The situation unfolds as a group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers in Indonesia ended a hunger strike.

Their boat, carrying more than 250 ethnic Tamils, was intercepted last weekend by the Indonesian navy en route to Australia and taken to the Javanese city of Merak.

The passengers had refused to leave the boat during the past week, while making emotional pleas for Australia to take them