MEDIA RELEASE ALL ASYLUM SEEKERS DESERVE THE FAWAD AHMED TREATMENT. ‘RELOCATION’ ARGUMENT MUST BE DROPPED The revelations surrounding the Ministerial intervention and hasty changes to the citizenship laws in regard to asylum seeker and spin bowler, Fawad Ahmed, have revealed the extent of the shameless political manipulation of refugee status determination. Far more commonly, political manipulation is used to the detriment of asylum seekers. Kevin Rudd’s declaration in 2010 that the government expected success rates for Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum seekers to fall, consequently brought about a dramatic drop in the rates of Afghans and Sri Lankans being accepted as refugees. More recently, Minister Scott Morrison has issued decrees regarding regulations to circumvent the law and deprive refugees of protection visas. “The revelations surrounding Fawad reveals the extent to which refugee policy is driven by populist domestic politics, not principles of human rights. But the real scandal is the systematic bias of the Refugee Review Tribunal and the immigration department,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition. “Although then-Minister Bowen and then-Opposition leader Tony Abbott are hypocrites, we shouldn’t be critical of then Minister Chris Bowen’s support for Fawad. The real question is, ‘Why weren’t; why aren’t, the same principles of justice applied to Fawad being applied to others just as deserving?’ And all the asylum seekers have a contribution to make to Australian society,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition. The populism that explains the bi-partisan support for intervention in Fawad’s case, is all too obvious. But the attention focussed on the selective actions of the politicians “vested interests” that lobbied for Fawad risks over-shadowing the far more important issue of the bias of the immigration department and the general flaws in the refugee determination process. The real shame is that asylum seekers are routinely being denied justice unless some prominent entity like Cricket Australia intervenes. “We don’t need a witch-hunt directed at Fawad or even the self-interested influential figures in Cricket Australia. We need an inquiry directed at the flaws in the determination process and the bias of the immigration department. In this case, Fawad Ahmed has rightly benefited from Ministerial intervention, but too often immigration ministers turn a blind eye to injustices,” said Rintoul. “Minister Chris Bowen rightly over-rode the RRT decision and immigration department and rejected the ‘relocation’ argument they wanted to use against Fawad. So often, asylum seekers get decisions recognising they are refugees in the area of Afghanistan or Pakistan that they have fled from, but ludicrously denying them refugee status because there is some other area in the same country where they are meant to be able to live. They say, ‘yes you are a refugee in Oruzgan, but you can go and live in Kabul’. “It is ridiculous, but these decisions are not able to be appealed. That is something that really should be investigated.” For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 05:34:50 +0000
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