Asylum seekers transferred from customs ship get access to lawyers for first time after arriving at Curtin detention centre

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Asylum seekers passing through the Cocos Islands on their way to Curtin detention centre in Western Australia

Indian officials will meet the 157 asylum seekers sent to Curtin detention centre “within days”, as lawyers working for the Tamils were granted their first access on Tuesday.



A spokesman for the Indian high commission in Canberra told Guardian Australia the mission had expected to meet the asylum seekers within the week after receiving a formal invitation from the Australian government to assess whether any of them held Indian citizenship.

George Newhouse, a lawyer working for the Tamils, said their legal team was granted “extremely limited” access on Tuesday. Guardian Australia understands the asylum seekers are being initially processed by Australian officials.

Refugee advocates allege that some of the asylum seekers, who were brought ashore to the Australian territory of the Cocos Islands on Sunday, have not been given any clean clothing since their arrival. Some are wearing the same clothes as when they were first intercepted by Australian customs on 29 June off the coast of Christmas Island.

Ian Rintoul, a spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition, said he had spoken to two asylum seekers – not part of the group of 157 – held at Curtin who had seen members of the Tamil group.

He was told “some have been left standing in the clothes they’ve had on since they were picked up”.

Advocates say the 157 are being kept in a separate compound from the rest of the detention centre population.



The immigration minister, Scott Morrison, has been contacted for a response.

Morrison has described the 157 asylum seekers as economic migrants, despite the fact none of them have lodged a claim for protection and, according to high court documents, all are seeking asylum.

Between 2011 and 2013 the Australian government issued 72 protection visas to Indian asylum seekers. Guardian Australia has reported a number of those on board had recently arrived in India after leaving Sri Lanka.

David Manne, executive director of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre and another lawyer working for the 157, said on Monday it was “unclear what role India could properly have” in the processing of the asylum seekers.

“It’s a fundamental principle of refugee law that no person should have to deal with or interact with the authorities of another country without first having their claims for protection assessed,” Manne said. “Before any such steps are taken we must first establish these people’s predicament.”

Morrison was forced to confirm that Tamils were due to be brought to Australia after Guardian Australia revealed secret government plans on Friday.

Guardian Australia was the only media organisation to witness the asylum seekers’ arrival on the Cocos Islands on Sunday.