Sarah Stephen
On April 26, 50 East Timorese asylum seekers were hand delivered letters rejecting their applications for refugee status in Australia, and given 28 days to leave the country. The immigration department (DIMIA) is offering individuals $2000 each or up to $10,000 a family, and a one-way ticket to Dili.
The families have been living in Australia on bridging visas for up to 10 years. Their children were born here and only know English. Sister Susan Connelly, assistant director of the Mary MacKillop Institute for East Timor Studies in Sydney, told ABC's Lateline program on April 27 that if an appeal against their rejection fails, the Timorese may be refused bridging visas and could be taken to Villawood detention centre.
Connelly told Green Left Weekly: "The Mary MacKillop Institute and all East Timorese supporters are disgusted with the comments of Mr Peter McGauran, acting minister for immigration, when he said on Lateline that 'serious character grounds' were the basis for refusing 50 Timorese applications for asylum."
Connelly said this claim amounts to "stripping these people of their good name", and that they are "hurt and offended" by the accusations.
"Why was this action taken during the absence of the [immigration] minister, Senator [Amanda] Vanstone?", Connelly asked. "Why has this Timorese issue been brought to the spotlight at the same time that the major talks over the resources of the Timor Sea are being held in Dili?"
"The spin being put on the story is an exercise in cynical deception unparalleled even by this government", Connelly added. "The announcement that 1500 East Timorese are being allowed to stay is designed to deceive many ill-informed and unwitting Australians who happily swallow much of what is in print. They miss the point that the surreptitious mention of the 50 who have been told to leave is the real story, and are left with the carefully-crafted impression that the government is indeed generous."
From Green Left Weekly, May 4, 2005.
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