 Rudd
harder than Howard on asylum seekers
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
ex www.crikey.com.au
Postscript to
this story 2.34pm: A few minutes ago, an asylum seeker was given the
bad news that he had been rejected. An ambulance has just taken him to
hospital because he attempted to kill himself. He is unable to face return
to the country from which he fled.
 Margaret
Simons writes:
Labor is being tougher
and more ruthless with asylum seekers than the Howard Government, according
to an analysis of decisions made by the new Minister for Immigration,
Senator Chris Evans.
The analysis of the
exercise of ministerial discretion shows that Evans has rejected 97.6
per cent of applications since coming to power - the highest rate of rejection
since 2001.
The handling of applications
for ministerial discretion has been sped up, with 41 rejections being
issued in five weeks and other applicants told their cases have been "escalated"
which on the current pattern is not good news for them.
Most of those rejected
feared for their safety if returned to their countries of origin. Many
have mental health problems and spouses and children in Australia from
whom they will be separated if deported.
The analysis of the
rejections is contained in a document distributed to volunteers by the
Asylum Seekers’ Resource Centre, which is the leading aid and advocacy
organisation for refugees in Australia. Read the whole document here.
Authored by the CEO
Kon Karapanagiotidis, the document analyses 42 decisions made by Evans.
All but one of these applications were rejected.
"The injustice
continues under an ALP Government when it comes to asylum seekers,"
Karapanagiotidis says.
"It's still too
early to get a complete picture of how the Minister will exercise his
power, however it’s sadly looking like a change of government may
have brought no real change for asylum seekers."
According to Asylum Seeker
Resource Centre campaign co-ordinator, Pamela Curr, the cases Evans has
rejected include one of an African woman who had been kidnapped and trafficked
to the Middle East. She was abused by her "owners". She came to
Australia with her "owners" when they were on holiday. When she
was attacked again, she ran away. Since then Australia has been her only
experience of relative security.
"This case just
shattered us all," says Curr.
Curr says others rejected
include compelling cases of people who have good reason to fear death
if they are returned to their countries of origin, and families that will
be split up if people are deported.
"The people making
these decisions are old immigration department officers, the same kind
of people who handled Cornelia Rau and Vivian Solon. They are still there
and they are just saying no."
There has been no
cultural change in the department, Curr says.
"This Government
will be six months old on the 24 May. We have been patiently waiting to
see the new compassionate Government. At this rate we will be disappointed."
In this speech last
February Senator Evans talked about the 2000 applications for ministerial
intervention on his desk, and expressed reservations about whether he
should have so much power.
He said the ministerial
discretion, intended as a check on the system, had instead become part
of the process. Different personalities and priorities among Immigration
Ministers led to different outcomes. He indicated he favoured arms’
length decision making by better supported tribunals.
In fact Philip Ruddock
was the only Immigration Minister to closely supervise the exercise of
Ministerial discretion, and it was his period in the hot seat that led
to the big increase of its use. He intervened on 2513 occasions from 1996
to October 2003, compared to his predecessor, Nick Bolkus, handling just
311 in three years.
Since Ruddock, the
reality is that the so-called Ministerial discretion has been handed to
Department of Immigration bureaucrats. Evans has indicated he wants the
2000 files cleared fast, and they are moving through them with ruthless
toughness.
Karapanagiotidis writes
that he has urged the Department not to send bulk refusals "because
they are unmanageable and create a crisis that neither ourselves, other
agencies or they can deal with."
Nevertheless, the
Centre has had 41 rejections in five weeks.
The Asylum Seekers’
Resource Centre plans to try again for ministerial intervention on some
of the most compelling cases.
Meanwhile, Crikey
sent a copy of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre document to the Minister’s
staff yesterday afternoon, but did not receive comment in time for today’s
deadline.
Pamela Curr
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre ASRC
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