Sydney | Friday
AMNESTY International on Friday dismissed Australian government arguments that unwanted asylum seekers were subject to prolonged detention because of September 11.
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock defended the time taken to process Iraqi asylum seekers at the Woomera detention centre amid reports of another hunger strike and 120 detainees burying themselves up to their necks.
Ruddock said in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Australia had to check whether people coming to the country represented a security risk.
”Testing in relation to whether or not people pose a risk to the Australian community does take time,” he told ABC radio.
”Tests are done by competent agencies and we await advice from those agencies.
”Those agencies are under enormous pressure at the moment, not just because we’ve had larger number of arrivals, but because of the events of September 11.”
But Amnesty representative Irene Khan dismissed the argument.
”The security concerns didn’t exist when these people arrived. Most of the asylum seekers arrived pre-September 11,” she said.
”There is a tendency to lump together terrorists, money launderers, traffickers, and yet none of the people who have been arrested (throughout the world in connection with al-Qaeda) were asylum seekers. They arrived legally.
”To pretend refugees somehow present a threat only adds to fear and xenophobia.”
Woomera, an isolated camp in the remote south Australian desert, is one of six detention centres used to house asylum seekers while their claims are processed.
It was the scene of riots and hunger strikes in January as detainees lost patience with the long delays in having their claims processed.
Rights groups including Amnesty have been denied permission to visit Woomera.
Ruddock claims the government’s tough stance has resulted in a significant change in regional attitudes toward people smuggling as well as a dramatic reduction in illegal arrivals.
But Khan disputed the claim.
”Detention policies are not sending a message because they were implemented in 1999-2000 when numbers of people arriving went up,” she said.
And she dismissed Ruddock’s claim illegal immigrants were ”queue jumpers” taking the place of ”genuine” refugees.
Australia takes in 12 000 people each year under an agreement with the UN refugee agency, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Ruddock said 5 000 of those places last year were taken by people without priority but with money and freedom to travel.
”To pretend there is something like a bus queue of asylum seekers is to totally misunderstand the situation,” Khan said.
”There is no queue. Many of the people coming (illegally) to Australia do not have access to the UNHCR, they are fleeing desperate conditions,” she added.
And she claimed the majority of Australian people, who according to polls support the government’s tough stance on immigration, were being misled by politicians.
”Australian people have a strong sense of fairness and when they are told asylum seekers are queue jumpers they object to it,” she said.
”There is a deliberate vilification and demonisation of people coming here.” – Sapa-AFP