Refugee advocates are urging the Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to halt the removal of an Afghan asylum seeker, scheduled for Tuesday 28 October, from Yongah Hill in Western Australia.
The removal would be only the second ever forced removal of an Afghan asylum seeker. It comes only a few weeks since the reports that the first Afghan forcibly removed on 26 August, Zainullah Naseri, was captured and tortured by the Taliban.
Morrison promised that there would be an inquiry into the threat to Zainullah’s life by the Taliban.
But, despite having no result of that inquiry, pleas to the Minister to halt this removal have so far been ignored.
Tuesday’s forced removal will also be only six weeks since the Taliban killed an Afghan-Australian refugee, Sayed Musawi, on the road between Kabul and Ghazni.
Like Zainullah’s case, the Refugee Review Tribunal decision in the most recent case was made 18 months ago using assessments of the safety of Kabul made even earlier, in 2011 and 2012. The security situation has deteriorated dramatically since then.
“The Minister’s decision to remove a second Afghan asylum seeker is simply not safe. The information used in his RRT decision is wildly and dangerously out-of-date. We are urging the Minister to use his discretionary power to halt Tuesday’s removal, and to immediately place a moratorium on all removals to Afghanistan,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.
“The killing of Sayed Musawi and the capture and torture of Zainullah make it clear that Afghanistan is simply not safe. Afghan asylum seekers being sent to Kabul are obviously being sent to danger. The removal must be stopped.”
Legal efforts to halt the removal are still being considered. There are at least eight other Hazaras who have been re-detained, pending deportation, since Zainullah’s removal on 26 August.
For more information, contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
