Ruddocks promise to fasttrack asylum bids
Tha Age
By KERRY TAYLOR, CHRIS KREMMER and MARGO KINGSTON
Friday 25 January 2002
The Federal Government yesterday agreed to accelerate the processing of refugee claims from Afghans in the troubled Woomera detention centre, where a hunger strike involving more than 200 inmates has entered its 10th day.
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock yesterday met the Independent Detention Advisory Committee to discuss the situation at the centre, which worsened on Wednesday night when four inmates, including a 16-year-old boy, attempted suicide.
Yesterday 212 detainees, 42 with their lips still sewn together, continued their hunger strike. Thirty-four minors, none of whom have sewn lips, are among the group.
The government's decision to expedite the Afghan claims came as:
Twenty-five detainees released from Woomera on temporary protection visas arrived in Adelaide last night to the enthusiastic embrace of supporters. One of those released, Babak Ahmadi, 27, said fellow Iranians at Woomera would commit suicide if they could not go free. Five unaccompanied minors left Woomera and were placed in foster care. A spokesman for Mr Ruddock said 21 other unaccompanied minors remained in detention because they were not at risk.Tensions mounted in both major parties and Labor's spokeswoman on the status of women, Carmen Lawrence, defied her party's instructions to remain silent. She said that as a psychologist, she must speak up "for the young women and their families who are being detained in demeaning conditions in remote parts of our country".Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja described the Woomera detention centre as a "hell-hole" after she and fellow Democrats senator Andrew Bartlett toured the facility.A team from the Human Rights Commission prepared to enter the detention centre today as part of an inquiry into the conditions for children in Australia's detention centres.Mr Ruddock yesterday also promised to provide Afghans held at Woomera with more information about their cases.
Head of the Independent Detention Advisory Committee, John Hodges, said yesterday when committee members met the detainees earlier this week, they had felt the processing of their claims had been "in limbo". He described the government's move as a concession. "I don't know how else you could look at it," he said. There had to be some "give and take" in such a situation.
The processing of Afghan asylum claims had been delayed because of the changing political situation in Afghanistan, Mr Ruddock said.
After taking the advisory group's advice, he would ensure that detainees were told more about the status of their claims immediately and about the changed circumstances in Afghanistan.
The Immigration Department had stopped finalising the claims of many Afghan asylum seekers until the situation in Afghanistan became clearer, making a decision possible on whether they were still refugees.
Mr Ruddock denied there had been a total freeze on Afghan claims. The claims were being treated case by case, he said.
"I've made it clear at all times that when there are significant changes in the circumstances in your home country, they have to be taken into account," Mr Ruddock said.
While denying the move was a capitulation to the protesters, Mr Ruddock said there may have been some misunderstanding over the situation of the Afghans' claims.
Mr Hodges and five fellow committee members will return to Woomera today to tell protesting detainees the outcome of their discussions with the Federal Government.