Refugee supporters are horrified at the removal of up to 23 Vietnamese asylum seekers in the early hours of Wednesday morning (23 October).
Nineteen asylum seekers were isolated at the Yongah Hill detention centre on Wednesday afternoon before being taken to Perth. They joined another four asylum seekers in the Perth detention centre before being deported to Vietnam.
Among those deported were at least five Vietnamese who Australian immigration had exposed to Vietnamese immigration police while they were in detention.
One of them, interviewed by the Vietnamese police on 27 September was told by the Vietnamese police he was ‘guilty of treason and would be deported’.
“We have grave fears for all those who have been removed, but especially for those who have been interviewed by the Vietnamese police,” said Ian Rintoul, for the Refugee Action Coalition. “The responsibility for their safety lies with the Australian government.”
“The Australian government has shown the same contempt for their human rights as it did for the West Papuans sent back to PNG. Or the recently arrived Tamils who were screened-out and returned to Colombo,” said Rintoul.
“It is clear that the Abbott government is compromised by its own mistreatment of asylum seekers and is now complicit with human rights abuses in Indonesia and Vietnam, and Sri Lanka.
“Three Vietnamese asylum seekers deported earlier in October have been repeatedly harassed by police since they were returned. The government has sent these people back to danger. The government must call a halt to the Vietnamese deportations.
“Every asylum seeker who arrives is entitled to have their protection claim properly heard in Australia.”
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713.
