Sarah Stephen
On September 13, interpreters and officers from the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) made threats of forced deportation to asylum seekers being detained on Nauru who don't agree to return voluntarily to their countries of origin.
There are 82 asylum seekers still detained on Nauru. Most of them are from Afghanistan and Iraq and cannot be forcibly returned.
In a September 15 letter to Jane Keogh, a Canberra refugee activist, Afghan asylum seeker Aslam Kazimi wrote: "Some of us have told to be ready for return back to a persecutions place in which we all faced torture. We were told to be ready Friday, otherwise we would be handcuffed and would be sent to our country by force".
Kazimi added that the pressure from DIMIA was causing great anxiety and fear among the asylum seekers.
Elaine Smith from Rural Australians for Refugees, who has been campaigning tirelessly for those on Nauru, wrote on September 17: "I am finding it hard to understand why deportation threats were made to those still suffering in [Australia's] camp on Nauru. Surely the government is in caretaker mode and not bringing in new tactics at this time. Was the threat to 'bind their hands' designed to stir the pot a little?
"The men, women and little children who have been there for three years are distressed enough. We don't need people to be provoked beyond despair. We don't need to see poor souls tied into plane seats in order to show that 'Honest' John is a 'big man'."
In a letter to refugee supporters, lawyer for the Afghans on Nauru, Marion Le, wrote on September 17: "There was no intention to deport any of the Iraqis or Afghanis this week — the interviews were to push them over the line and persuade them to go back voluntarily...
"Only one of the Pakistanis ... and the Bangladeshi man have been advised honestly that removal is now a very real option if they do not leave voluntarily."
Smith wrote on September 16 that the Pakistani and Bangladeshi men "have been unable to prove refugee status. They are without legal representation, advisers or assistance in making their cases. I do not know how they can be expected to find the background information, to know what is relevant and provide the documentation."
She noted that two of the men are of the Ahmadi religion and have suffered persecution and violence at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists. "They fear being killed if they return", Smith wrote.
One of the men had written to Smith: "Yes, it is true, I was threatened by DIMIA... DIMIA told me, 'you have to go back. If you are not go back, we will send you by force and band you hand'. If I go back, I would be killed [in front of] my child. I do not know that what can I do, and I do not know that when DIMIA are going to send me by force. Please, help me, and save my life."
In a September letter to a refugee advocate, John Okley, assistant secretary in DIMIA's offshore asylum seeker management branch, wrote: "Contrary to the wild accusations that are circulating, no-one was threatened with enforced removal and no-one was pressured to leave voluntarily, but residents were asked to consider their future options, return being one of them."
So far, none of the threatened deportations have taken place.
From Green Left Weekly, September 22, 2004.
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