National Day Of Action Against Emirates
Refugee Suporters Demand, "Stop Putting Refugee Lives At Risk"

Refugee supporters in Melbourne will rally outside Emirates Airlines offices at 12.30 today (257 Collins St, City), joining other refugee groups in Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and Perth for a National Day of Action to condemn the carrier for allowing the Department of Immigration Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) to use their flights to forcibly deport asylum seekers.

Refugee supporters have been informed that on at least two occasions since the last federal election, DIMIA have used EMIRATES flights to deport asylum seekers to countries with appalling human rights records.

A Sudanese asylum seeker, Abdul Khogali, was deported on 11 January back to Sudan. A former policeman in Sudan, he fled the country in 1997 because he refused to enforce Islamic sharia law, which includes the amputation of limbs and public execution.

Refugee supporters are still seeking to confirm which airline was used to deport him from Sydney Airport to Dubai. However Abdul's relatives in Perth have spoken to him since and confirm he was sedated in Dubai and then placed on board an EMIRATES flight to Khartoum, Sudan. Upon arrival in Khartoum, he was arrested and imprisoned for six days.

RAC Victoria has also been informed that an Iranian asylum seeker was deported to Iran on 14 October last year on an EMIRATES flight out of Perth. He is a Christian who had been claiming asylum in Australia on religious grounds. The US State Department lists Iran as a country in which converting to Christianity (apostasy) is an offence punishable by death.

RAC Victoria holds grave fears that another Iranian asylum seeker, Ardeshir Gholipour-an artist, writer and democracy activist persecuted in Iran and now in Baxter detention centre-may be the next person to fly EMIRATES deportation class.

"DIMIA's forced deportations are a cruel, brutal and humiliating process that put innocent lives at risk. It is absolutely shameful for any commercial airline to help them with their dirty work," said RAC Victoria spokesperson Tim Petterson.

"We are saying to EMIRATES and to all other airlines: the grubby business of helping send asylum seekers back to dangerous countries has got to stop."

"And we ask all decent Australians to stop using EMIRATES Airline until it comes out and publicly states it will no longer allow forced deportations of asylum seekers on their flights."