Refugee returns set to expand
By Ian Henderson, New York and Benjamin Haslem
02feb02
The Australian
JOHN Howard's plan to pay unsuccessful Afghan asylum-seekers to go home may be extended to cover illegal arrivals from other countries.
The Prime Minister yesterday would not rule out resettlement assistance for refugees from other countries a day after he unveiled a plan to use Australian taxpayers' cash to entice Afghan asylum-seekers to return home.
Asked yesterday in New York whether a similar offer could be made to people from other countries, Mr Howard said "we're just talking about Afghanistan at present".
Pressed on whether the scheme might be broadened to cover asylum-seekers from Iran or Iraq, Mr Howard said: "I haven't had any discussions with the leaders of the Iranian or the Iraqi government.
"Let's just deal with one country at a time."
Two members of the government's Immigration Detention Advisory Group (IDAG) yesterday expressed concerns about the government's plan to allow an Afghan interim government delegation access to asylum-seekers at the Woomera detention centre. IDAG members helped convince asylum-seekers at Woomera this week to end a hunger strike.
"It does give me cause for concern because the situation is very fragile at Woomera," IDAG member Paris Aristotle said. Another member, Harry Minas , expressed concern that the delegation would have access to Afghans who would still be fearful of returning home despite the fall of the Taliban regime.
Many were from the Hazara ethnic group, Professor Minas said. "The concerns of the Hazaras is that they have been subject to persecution, not only by the Taliban, but for a very long time by a whole lot of different groups in Afghanistan," he said.
However, Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock stressed that the delegation would meet only with detainees who had had their claims for refugee status declined.
But refugee advocates warned that allowing representatives of a government into a centre where people fleeing that country were housed was dangerous.
Melbourne refugee lawyer David Manne said it was "a highly controversial and potentially very dangerous thing to do because it exposes to people with real fears for their safety to people they believe may potentially persecute them or not provide for their safety".
Meanwhile, a group of 180 asylum-seekers have been transferred from Christmas Island to Manus Island off Papua New Guinea and Nauru over the past week, the Immigration Department said yesterday.