Sarah Stephen
In December, the Australian Federal Police charged four refugee supporters with the "crime" of assisting asylum seekers to escape Australia — punishable by two years' jail or a $5000 fine. We know that the government has little interest in the fate of those it returns to countries like Iran, Sudan, Syria and Pakistan.
Many of those who have escaped deportation from Australia and sought asylum in a third country have been accepted as refugees. Those who assisted their escape did what was morally right and history will judge them heroes. What follows are some examples of refugees who have escaped from Australia to other countries.
Ali, a 32-year-old Iranian man, helped organise a protest in Isfahan, Iran, in July 2000. He and his friend were arrested and held blindfolded for around two months. Ali was beaten and threatened with being killed. Babak, a friend of Ali's who was arrested with him at the protest, has never been seen again. His family believes that he was killed in prison. Ali was released after his father bribed a guard. He went into hiding and during that time his father and mother were taken and questioned by the secret police.
Ali fled Iran and arrived in Australia in December 2000. He was detained under Australia's mandatory detention laws, which apply to asylum seekers arriving without documents. The Refugee Review Tribunal accepted that Ali had been detained and tortured in Iran but did not accept that Ali "had a well-founded fear of persecution".
Arrest warrants have been issued in Iran for Ali's arrest. Ali escaped from Sydney's Villawood detention centre in July 2001. He got to New Zealand in July 2003.
Behrooz, from a political family in Iran, escaped after seven months in Woomera detention centre. His father was sentenced to hanging by the Shah. The sentence was commuted to life and he was able to bribe his way out of prison after three years. He was jailed for four years by former Iranian ruler Ayatollah Khomeini for political activity against the Islamic republic.
Behrooz was harassed for most of his life. He was kicked out of school, he was flogged for being found in the company of a woman, and he spent a week in jail, during which his nose was broken, after the family house was raided.
Following security checks, Behrooz was sacked from his job. He began recording illegal broadcasts and copying videos for opposition groups. The family home was again raided in 2000, and copies of the videos were found. He went into hiding and a summons for him to appear before a "revolutionary court" was taken to the family home.
Behrooz fled Iran, arriving in Australia in August 2001. His claim for asylum was rejected by the Refugee Review Tribunal — the transcript reveals numerous problems of translation as well as many other issues of disorientation, confusion over questions, and in particular the tribunal officer's lack of knowledge.
Behrooz escaped detention in March 2002. He has applied for refugee status in another country. While he is appealing his initial rejection, he can live and work in the community while his appeal is processed.
Ahmad was a Hazara Afghan granted a temporary protection visa, which was cancelled after two years. He could not face returning to detention, nor the possibility of being deported on the basis of false accusations that he was Pakistani. Ahmad has been accepted as a refugee in another country and will soon be eligible for permanent residence.
In contrast, another Hazara whose visa was cancelled at the same time was taken back into detention for two years before being released on a bridging visa. He now faces the possibility of being deported back to Afghanistan.
Mohammed was another Afghan Hazara threatened with cancellation of his visa a year ago. He avoided immigration officers when they raided his home and made it to another country where he has applied for refugee status.
An Algerian family of seven spent two-and-a-half years in detention in Woomera and then in the Villawood detention centre. Their detention continued despite recommendations from medical and other staff at Woomera that they be released, and a positive finding on their refugee status by the United Nations. They escaped in July 2000. The family made it to New Zealand and is living in the community. The children are attending school while they await a final refugee determination.
An Iranian who escaped from Villawood in July 2000 now has refugee status in Canada.
From Green Left Weekly, January 19, 2005.
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