Iranian Asylum Seekers Could Face Indefinite Detention in Australia

The number of asylum seekers from Iran trying to reach Australia by boat has increased dramatically in recent months, leading to fears that thousands of Iranians could be denied refugee status but unable to return to Iran.

In 2009-10 Iranians were just 6% of the asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat. By 2010-11 they made up 36%. Recent figures show that asylum seekers from Iran now make up almost 50% of the people arriving by boat in Australia. 1,549 Iranians arrived in 2010-11.

Despite the increase in numbers, Immigration Department figures show that most of the Iranian asylum seekers were found not to be refugees in their first application. Between July and September 2011, 754 out of 1366 asylum seekers from Iran had their refugee applications rejected. And more than 25% of Iranian asylum seekers could not get these initial rejections overturned.

Normally, people who are not accepted as refugees are sent back to their home country, even if they don’t want to. But in the case of Iranian asylum seekers, they can’t be returned to Iran because the Iranian Government will not accept them. The Australian Government has said that “the involuntary return of failed asylum-seekers can only occur with the agreement of the host country.” But there is no agreement between the Iranian and Australian governments. “Despite numerous attempts by Australia, the Iranian government has made it clear that it will not accept the involuntary return of failed asylum-seekers.”

Without an agreement with the Iranian Government, failed Iranian asylum seekers could be kept in detention centres forever. The Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen says that the Australian Government knows the issue is a “considerable challenge” and that a “range of case resolution options” are being considered for failed refugees.

There have been agreements between Australia and Iran in the past. In 2003 a deal was negotiated by Australia to return failed refugees back to Iran by force. In exchange, Australia offered working holiday visas for young Iranians. The Refugee Council of Australia says that the Australian Government needs to look at a range of options with Iran because there are many Iranians who have been in detention for more than two years. Without a new agreement or another response, the Refugee Council is concerned that people will become stuck in detention forever. “People have to be returned in certain circumstances to their country of origin. If they can't be, the options are indefinite detention.”

Boat Arrivals, Australia and Human Rights

Australia’s policy of imprisoning all asylum seekers who travel to Australia by boat has been strongly criticized by human rights supporters. During a visit to Australia in May 2011 the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, urged the Australian Government to end the mandatory detention policy. Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned the policy, saying Australia needs to do more to protect the rights of asylum seekers and refugees. Despite this, it is unlikely that the policy of mandatory detention will be changed.

Partly responding to the criticism of human rights campaigners, the Australian Government announced that asylum seekers arriving by boat could be granted Bridging Visas in November 2011. The Bridging Visas would allow asylum seekers to live in the community while their applications for refugee status were decided. According to the Immigration Department, however, bridging visas are granted on a case by case basis and priority is given to the most vulnerable and those who have been in detention for a long time. The behavior of asylum seekers in detention is also taken into account. Since November only 107 asylum seekers have been let out of detention on bridging visas and 4,409 people remain locked up.

The possibility of Bridging Visas for asylum seekers arriving by boat is a step towards a more gentle response to boat arrivals but it does not mean the end of compulsory detention. Historically, Australia’s policies towards boat arrivals have got harsher when the number of people arriving by boat increases. Mandatory detention laws were introduced in Australia in 1992 by the then Labor government in response to the increasing numbers of asylum seekers from Vietnam, China, and Cambodia trying to reach Australia by boat. The law said that Australian Courts were not allowed to review the decision to detain asylum seekers but said that they could not be detained for longer than 273 (approximately nine months). In 1994 the same government changed the law again, making it even harsher by ruling that mandatory detention could last indefinitely for anyone who came to Australia by boat without a valid visa.

In 2001, in response to the increasing numbers of asylum seekers arriving by boat, the then Liberal Government (led by John Howard) introduced the Pacific Solution. Before 2001, the highest number of asylum seekers boats to arrive in Australia was 19, carrying a total of 660 asylum seekers. In 2001, 43 boats arrived carrying 5,516 asylum seekers. Responding to this increase, the Australian government declared that the Australian islands between Indonesia and the Australian mainland were no longer part of Australia’s migration zone and all asylum seekers arriving by boat would be taken to a detention centre on the tiny island of Nauru. Many of the asylum seekers in Nauru were detained for years. The number of boats arriving dropped dramatically.

In 2008, the newly elected Labor government (this time led by Kevin Rudd) announced that it was ending the Pacific Solution but that some aspects of the detention system would stay the same. Asylum seekers arriving by boat would still have their refugee status determined offshore (on Christmas Island) but they would be let out of detention faster. In October 2010, the new Labor Prime Minister, Julia Gillard said that more changes would be made to the policy so that children and families could stay in community-based accommodation instead of the detention centre. However, since 2008, the number of boats arriving has steadily increased. In 2010 134 boats carried 6,879 asylum seekers to Australia.

Because the numbers of asylum seekers have increased so dramatically, it is likely that mandatory detention will continue to be used as a deterrent. Both of the major political parties in Australia remain convinced of the need for offshore processing and are just debating about where it will take place. The detention center in Nauru is one of the options being discussed. Amnesty International has said that the prospect of reopening Nauru is “horrifying” because “asylum seekers were locked up for years, away from lawyers, media, human rights advocates and community support. They were often not given proper information about what was happening and what rights they had.” Amnesty believes that there is a declining respect for the human rights of asylum seekers in Australia.

Survivors of Indonesian Boat Tragedy Face Uncertain Future

Of the estimated 250 asylum seekers on board the boat which capsized off the Indonesian coast in December, only 47 survived. But despite surviving the tragedy, they face an uncertain future.

Most of the asylum seekers are now being held in an Indonesian detention centre and do not know what will happen to them. Those in detention say that they still haven’t been visited by UNHCR. Five have asked to be returned to their homes in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and Turkey. The rest are desperate and say that will get on another boat if they can.

The conditions in the Indonesian detention centre are bad, say the asylum seekers. “I told them I was a refugee, that I had lost my whole family,” said Dawood Waladbegi from Iran. His wife and two children died in the boat sinking. “They spat on me, beat me and told me I was in their country now and it was their rules.”

Ali Mohammad, from Afghanistan, has a black eye and two deep gashes on his legs after the detention center guards beat him for trying to escape. Survivors also said they had been hit with electrical prods after a riot when they tried to break down the detention centre's fence and threw rocks at staff.

One of the survivors who said he will return home, Esmat Adine, 24, says that he signed the forms to return to Afghanistan because he could not face being held in the detention centre in Indonesia for two years while UNHCR decided whether he was a refugee or not. Even though he fears for his life if he is sent back to Kabul, he says he will try to go to Canada instead. “If Australia doesn't accept my request I will deport myself and go directly to Kabul airport (and) to Canada,” he said.

The asylum seekers are also traumatized by violent deaths of their families and loved ones. Ten-year-old Athena Hardani from Iran was on the boat with her father, mother and sister. She is one of only three children of the twenty on board to survive. The last thing she remembers before the boat rolled over is her little sister’s face. “I learned to swim in school, but my sister Mobina didn’t,” she says. “My heart is sad because my mother and sister are not here. I know nothing about them.”

Athena was rescued soon after the boat capsized by a passing fishing boat but her father, Mohammad, spent three days clinging to the wreckage of the boat before being picked up by a ferry which happened to be in the area. “We spent three days and two nights that way,” he said. “I thought, ‘I can’t leave my little girl in this harsh world, I must live. I owe her my life.’” The 36-year-old welder from Ahvaz in Iran said that letting go of his younger daughter, eight-year-old Mobina, was the hardest thing he has ever done. “I think my wife had a heart attack from shock, but there was nothing I could do for my little girl.” Father and daughter are believed to be the only related survivors and were reunited by Indonesian authorities on Friday 23rd December 2011.

Another survivor spoke of what he had seen while waiting to be rescued. “Most of the people came out through the windows and died in front of our eyes,” said Syed, a Pakistani Hazara. “I saw their dead bodies floating on the sea. We witnessed all of this madness, death in the water for six hours.”

Jamble, a 25-year-old local fisherman, owns one of the fishing boats that rescued the first group of survivors. He says that he spotted several dark dots from his small wooden fishing vessel and decided to look closer. He and his three crew members were horrified when they saw hysterical and exhausted people clinging to anything that floated. He says the survivors immediately started swimming towards his boat. “They were all fighting, scrambling to get into my boat,” Jamble said. And although he only had room for 10 more people he managed to get 25 asylum seekers onto the boat. He says many of them injured and were begging for water to drink. Those left behind were screaming and crying. “I'm so sad ... I feel so guilty, but there were just too many of them.” “I was worried if we took any more we'd sink too,” he said.

Some people travelled to Indonesia from Australia after the tragedy to see if any of the family or friends had survived. Jeremy Jafari, an Afghan Australian, broke down at Bhayangkara Hospital in Surabaya after police showed him a photo of the body of his sister. “I'm certain it's my younger sister,” he said, crying. “I saw a physical mark on her body.” He was supported by Said Abbas Sultani, another Afghan living in Australia who had also travelled to Indonesia to search for members of his wife's family from Iran.

The Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency said they had only been able to find 101 dead bodies from the accident. “We have not found anymore bodies over the past two days, so we decided to stop our search and rescue efforts,” they said.

The Australian Government blamed the tragedy on people smugglers. “They’re in the business of making money and they don’t care if it kills people or not,” the Home Affairs Minister said.

The boat journey from Indonesia to Australia is very dangerous. In November another boat, carrying about 70 asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan capsized in the same area off Indonesia and at least eight people died.

Asylum Seekers Clash in Australian Detention Centre

Fights amongst asylum seekers in Darwin have highlighted tensions in detention centres around Australia as more and more asylum seekers try to get into Australia by boat.

Several asylum seekers were taken to hospital after fights broke out on the 31st December at the Darwin Airport Lodge, a temporary detention centre for families. Approximately 60 asylum seekers were involved. More fights broke out the following day and another four people were taken to hospital. The Department of Immigration says all of the asylum seekers have now been returned to the Detention Centre.

It is not known what the fights were about but the incident is being investigated by the Australian Federal Police. The company which runs detention centres in Australia, Serco, will also undertake their own investigation. The Immigration Department said that those asylum seekers found to have been involved risked failing their character test and may not receive refugee visas.

The Refugee Action Coalition says that tensions have been rising in detention centres because of delays in the bridging visa process. “There have been all sorts of promises made about people being allowed out on bridging visas by now but it just hasn't happened.”

After the Australian Government failed to get support from Parliament for the Malaysia Plan, it said it would introduce bridging visas for asylum seekers who had arrived by boat. Bridging visas are granted on a case by case basis and priority is given to the most vulnerable and those who have been in detention for a long time. According to the Immigration Department, the behaviour of asylum seekers in detention is also taken into account.

According to some asylum seekers, the policy of bridging visas gave many detainees hope that they would be allowed to live in the community while their claims were being assessed. However, since then only 107 asylum seekers have been let out of detention on bridging visas and the stress on those left in detention is increasing.

Statistics from the Australian Immigration Department that were published on November 30 say that over 4,400 asylum-seekers are currently in detention with 1,265 from Iran and 1,205 from Afghanistan. More than 1,540 people (35%) have been waiting in detention for more than a year to see whether they can stay in Australia or not.

Tensions are also increasing as more asylum seekers arrive by boat and are put into detention centres. 1080 asylum seekers arrived by boat in December. As of last Friday, there were 5819 boatpeople and crew in the country. There are currently only 1300 asylum seekers living in community detention.

The Immigration Department and Serco are trying to manage tensions through the introduction of a system of incentives, rewards and punishments. For example, asylum seekers deemed low-risk in Curtin Detention Centre in Western Australia are being moved to a low-security detention centre near Hobart. Asylum seekers who are “troublesome” are being flown to Christmas Island to be locked up in isolated cells not being allowed out at all or having any contact with other asylum-seekers for weeks at a time.

The main detention centre on Christmas Island is being renovated to increase the number of high-security cells from seven to over 50. Two accommodation blocks are also being converted into a fully caged compound for asylum seekers charged with offences or considered violent or likely to harm themselves.

Serco has also introduced community activities and volunteer work for asylum seekers that are well-behaved in Curtin. Low-risk detainees are now regularly taken for activities to the town of Derby, 50km from the centre. But an asylum seeker in Curtin explained that these trips did nothing to help him after 11 months in detention. “We are not children in here, you know someone you just give candy and make us quiet and happy," he said. “When you are locked up with no answers, your problems do not go away when you get taken on a bus ride or to the swimming pool.”