Government condemned for arbitrary detention of three asylum seekers, including a stateless man held for nearly nine years

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

United Nations body has condemned Australia’s arbitrary detention of three asylum seekers, one of whom has been held without charge or trial for nearly nine years.

The UN working group on arbitrary detention – which reports to the human rights council, on which Australia sits – said in its annual report it was concerned by “the rising prevalence of deprivation of liberty of immigrants and asylum seekers” worldwide and “the growing use of detention in the context of migration”.

The report highlighted 94 cases of arbitrary detention from countries – democratic and otherwise – across the globe, including China, Libya, Israel, Pakistan, the US, Zimbabwe, Burundi and the Congo.

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Twelve defectors from North Korea are held without charge or trial by South Korea, children are being held arbitrarily in Egypt and Israel, and in Ethiopia, people have been released under international attention and pressure, only to be re-arrested and detained.

Three cases of arbitrary detention in Australia were highlighted by the group. In each case, Australia did not respond to the working group’s concerns, and ignored recommendations to release the men and compensate them for their illegal detention.

Said Imasi, a stateless man understood to be from Western Sahara, has been held without charge or trial in immigration detention in Australia for nearly nine years.

Orphaned as a child, he fled a criminal gang in Europe to Australia and sought asylum, but Australia’s immigration authorities (the department holding him has changed its name twice since 2010) have said they don’t know what to do with him or to where he could be sent.

He has been held in detention centres all over Australia, and is currently on Christmas Island.

Guardian Australia reported in detail on Imasi’s case in January this year. The working group on arbitrary detention has said his detention is illegal, and that he should be immediately released and compensated. The commonwealth ombudsman has also said he should be immediately released.

Imasi’s case is now set to go before the high court.

In response to the working group on arbitrary detention, Australia said it was committed to cooperating with the group, and was helping to organise the group’s planned visit to Australia next year.

“Australia clearly opposes arbitrary detention. We call on all states to respect Article 9 of the universal declaration of human rights [which outlaws arbitrary arrest or detention] ,” Jessica Bowen-Thomas from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told the human rights council.

But the Sydney lawyer who brought the three cases to the UN, Alison Battisson from Human Rights for All, said Australia’s declarations to international fora were at odds with its actions at home.

“It is unclear how long Australia will continue to sit on the human rights council and continue to ignore the opinions of one of the council’s own working groups. The hypocrisy is startling,” Battisson said.

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“Australia’s use of arbitrary open-ended detention as a deterrent to other people exercising their right to asylum is destroying individual lives and families. The long-term impact of such treatment will be felt by generations to come.”

Daniel Webb from the Human Rights Law Centre, in Geneva as an observer of the human rights council, said Australia lacked “credibility and moral authority” on human rights issues because of its own continued violations.

“They never want to talk about it on the world stage, but it’s increasingly clear that our government’s cruel and unlawful treatment of refugees will haunt it throughout its council term.”

Earlier in the week, the new UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, used her maiden speech to the council to condemn Australia’s offshore detention regime as an “affront to the protection of human rights”.

In response to Bachelet’s speech, Australia said it “upholds our obligations under international law, and respects the fundamental rights and freedoms of all, including migrants and refugees”.

“We will remain a global leader on migration,” the government said.

In new guidelines for the detention of migrants, the UN working group said “arbitrary detention can never be justified”. It said migrants and asylum seekers should only be detained “as an exceptional measure of last resort” and a time limit must be imposed. It said children should never be detained because of their parents’ migration status.

Several children are currently detained within Australian detention centres, including two Australian-born toddlers, held for more than six months because one of their parent’s claim for protection was not upheld.

More than 100 children are held on Nauru as part of Australia’s offshore regime. They are not in detention but they cannot leave the island, which is about the size of Melbourne airport and lacks fundamental medical facilities, the Australian government has conceded in court.



