Senator Andrew Bartlett
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
 
Peter Qasim's likely release is to be welcomed
The likely release of Peter Qasim, Australia's longest serving immigration detainee is to be welcomed, while the system – which is still in place – that kept him in there for so long must continue to be condemned. I have written before about his plight, which is now fairly well known.

At least, I assumed his release would be welcomed, but in reading this report on ABC, it seems the Labor Party's Shadow Minister, Laurie Ferguson, is not so sure. The 'concern' Ferguson points to about whether or not Peter Qasim has been 'co-operative' shows how arbitrary this man’s situation is and how powerless his position still is. The refrain that a certain person has been 'unco-operative' is the catch-all line that the Minister uses regularly to justify imprisonment – a pretty heavy penalty for a very unclear and untested offence.

The Removal Pending Visa which Peter has been released upon is an artifice, and does not address the problems which are at the core of mandatory detention. However, it does at least provide an entitlement to work and Medicare, which is more than what a lot of other people who have been released from detention over recent years have got.

I have met Peter a few times over the years on visits to Baxter and when he was previously at another centre. He reflected the mindset of a person who was caught up in a bizarre bureaucratic maze that he had no control over.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Tuesday, June 21, 2005 Permalink
|


<< Home