Senator Andrew Bartlett
Saturday, May 28, 2005
 
9 more get freedom on Nauru – more must follow

News came through today that 9 more asylum seekers on Nauru have finally been offered visas by Australia. The 9 refugees are all Afghani and the Immigration Department (DIMIA) is still investigating the cases of a number of others on the island.

I was surprised how mixed my feelings were when I heard this – enormously pleased for those who are finally successful, but even more distressed for the others who are still waiting. One family group has been successful – the Hussainis – which is absolutely wonderful news for the two children, but I fear even more now for the one remaining family with children - the Rehmatis - who will now be left totally on their own.

The Hussaini children and their mother are the ones pictured in this article by Michael Gordon in The Age two months ago. The story in that article of when the father felt compelled to lie to his daughter that they had got a visa is one that has always got to me – tonight he will be telling her it is really true this time.

But what of the Rehmati children – eight year old Zahra who will now lose her namesake and only playmate, and fourteen year old Ilham, already enduring immense isolation? The damage already done to Ilham is widely recognised by those at the camp on Nauru and I know this whole family is already deeply traumatised. In my view, three and a half years is more than enough suffering for these children and their parents, regardless of any extra investigations DIMIA believes still needs to be done.

The story of the Rehmatis is told in the first paragraph of this piece by Michael Gordon, done after his visit to Nauru last month. Pictures of the two girls are in the top row, at the far left (Ilham, 14) and third from the left (Zahra, 8). Their 9 year old brother is between them on the row below. The father can be seen at the far right of the second row and I think it is their mother whose photo is in the bottom right hand corner. They also have a 15 year old brother.

All of the other 5 who were told they would get visas today are also mentioned briefly in the Michael Gordon article I have already referred to. They are Aslam Kazimi (3rd row 3rd from right), Zahir Dulat Shahi, Arif Ruhani, Ali Rezaee (top row 2nd from left) and Ali Mullaie (his story is told in much greater detail in this further piece by Michael Gordon.) He truly is a lovely man and I have no doubt Australia will be enriched by having him in our community.

Even with those that have been successful, my happiness competes with anger at why it has taken over 3 and a half years for this decision to be made. This is a scandal right up there with the Cornelia Rau and Vivian Alvarez Solon cases – 3 years of unnecessary detention in the intense isolation of a camp on Nauru. I think of the huge suffering (and financial expense) that might have been saved if these people had been given the chance and assistance to put a proper case together in the first place, rather than DIMIA waiting over two and a half years before allowing a migration agent to visit the asylum seekers and work on their behalf.

I presume all of these people are still only getting temporary visas, which (if true) is outrageous given how long they have already been detained prior to receiving them. This is particularly cruel for those who have wives and children overseas (such as Zahir), as they will still be barred from reuniting.

The 29 Afghan people on Nauru have had the added stress in the past fortnight of fearing involuntary deportation back to Afghanistan, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding allowing that to happen. The minds of the 20 Afghanis still without visas will be even more of a mess than usual tonight, with joy at their friends’ success in gaining a visa competing with a greater fear than ever that this means they will miss out. Many of them are also being told that DIMIA is still investigating their case, yet at the same time they are being offered a package of measures encouraging them to return to Afghanistan (which also means the start of a 45 day countdown to them becoming eligible for forcible removal). Those left on Nauru who are from other countries will also have heightened fears they have been forgotten or now have no chance, even though I am sure the compelling nature of some of the cases will see success for them eventually.

I managed to get an hour or so questioning DIMIA in Estimates about what was happening on Nauru from about 10pm on Thursday (I’ll post some more about some of their answers in a few days after the transcript has been done). It is often not realised (and I sometimes have remind myself as well) that there are no formal legal processes that have to be followed with the asylum seekers on Nauru and therefore no way of ensuring these processes are properly followed. Whilst Australia is funding the detention of these people and Australian public servants (DIMIA officers) make the assessments as to whether people meet the criteria of a refugee, they are literally operating outside the jurisdiction of Australian law.

It is very hard for me not to get personally caught up in some of the individual immigration cases I deal with, and nowhere is this truer than those on Nauru. Having travelled there three times in two years to meet the asylum seekers – especially as I am the only Australian politician who has done so - I feel I have a responsibility to them to keep fighting in the Parliament and the community on their behalf, as they are in a more powerless position than even those detained in Australia and so few people have had the chance to meet them and personally pledge to assist them.

UPDATE: Michael Gordon's latest piece on the issue contains more details, including a photo of the Hussaini family. It gives a sense of the mixed feelings in the camp at the moment and has some telling quotes from the Migration Agent, Marion Lê, who has worked on these peoples' cases, which give an inkling of the scandalous handling of some of these cases.


posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Saturday, May 28, 2005 Permalink
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