Last minute legal efforts are being made in Perth to seek an injunction to prevent the Immigration department from forcibly removing a 23 year-old Hazara Afghan asylum seeker, from Yongah Hill detention centre.
The removal is presently scheduled for tomorrow, 24 February and, if it goes ahead, would be the fourth forced removal to Afghanistan since August last year.
But the removal comes at a time when the Afghan government has issued a letter to European governments, at least, requesting them to desist from forcibly returning Afghan asylum seekers. It is unclear whether the Australian embassy or the Australian government has received a similar letter.
Besides the letter, the new Afghan refugee Minister has also made a verbal appeal for governments not to forcibly return asylum seekers to Afghanistan.
The Afghan government has gone as far as refusing to accept asylum seekers, being forcibly sent there by Norway. To make it their concerns very clear, Afghanistan has actually sent asylum seekers back to Norway.
There is a real risk that if this Hazara man is deported, that he will not be accepted in Kabul.
“We are calling on Peter Dutton to halt the removal,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition. “The security situation in Kabul is deteriorating badly. And now, there is a direct appeal to world governments, from the Afghan Minister for Refugees. The Afghan has referred explicitly to the fact that people from dangerous provinces should not be returned.
“The Afghan government is saying that the country is not safe and the government cannot look after those being returned. On top of that, the Afghan government is about to enter talks with the Taliban – the historic persecutors of the Hazara people.”
The Western Australian wrestling peak body Wrestling WA has also intervened on behalf of the asylum seeker. The committee has written to the Minister saying that the man “is an extremely talented young wrestler, with successes at the highest levels of Australian competition.”
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
