Under this government, some of the worst examples of political opportunism and deceit have involved the Department of Immigration.
“Children overboard” scandal
The Howard Government demonised asylum seekers claiming that they had thrown their children overboard in a “tough stance” against illegal immigration and border security. This had not actually occurred. The Navy further denied ever giving intelligence to the Government that children had been thrown overboard exposing the politically convenient fabrication by Howard and his senior ministers.
The “Tampa” case
The highly accoladed Arne Rinnan, captain of the Norwegian ship, the MV Tampa rescued approximately 450 asylum seekers from a leaking boat approximately 75 nautical miles from Christmas Island. The Tampa was ordered to stop a few miles off Christmas Island. The port was closed and the Tampa boarded by the SAS (an elite army unit). This “get tough” platform appealed to right wing popularism in the electorate of the time and won Howard the 2001 election.
“The government’s handling of the Tampa “crisis” was a triumph of electoral cynicism over humanitarian need”. [Julian Burnside]
The “Cornelia Rau” scandal
A mentally unwell Australian citizen (with psychosis) was kept for two years in the Baxter Detention Centre (for illegal immigrants), denied routine psychiatric care while the Department of Immigration tried to deport her to Germany. Even trivial investigation into her case would have revealed her true identity.
The “Vivian Solon” scandal
Another Australian citizen who was seriously unwell after a motor vehicle accident where she suffered spinal and brain injuries was deported to the Philippines. After the Department of Immigration realised its mistake, it tried to cover up the fact.
Now, a new entry to that list is the case of Ahmed Aziz Rafiq, an Adelaide supermarket worker who was wrongfully imprisoned by the U.S. forces in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison for 18 months – eventually released without charge. Rafiq had returned to Iraq to find a bride in 2004. Since his release, Rafiq has been unable to return to Australia as the Department of Immigration has yet to issue his wife with a visa! Somehow, the assurance from an Immigration spokesman that “every effort to finalise this application as quickly as possible” was being made seems hollow.
Source articles:
Project Safecom: The Unthrown Kids
Julian Burnside. Refugees: The Tampa Case
The Sydney Morning Herald: Cornelia Rau: the verdict
The Sydney Morning Herald: A culture of denial
From: The Sydney Morning Herald
Immigration delay leaves Abu Ghraib prisoner in limbo (excerpt)
May 24, 2006
...AN AUSTRALIAN wrongfully detained in Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison for more than 18 months without charge has been unable to return home because the Immigration Department has not given his wife a visa.
Ahmed Aziz Rafiq, an Adelaide supermarket worker, had just married his wife, Sarab, in Iraq when he was arrested by the US military in February 2004.
A year later, the US promised to release him but it withdrew the offer, saying it wanted to gather more information. He was not freed until last October after an Iraqi court found there was no evidence to prosecute him...
...Upon his release, the Australian embassy in Baghdad told him it could not issue a visa for his wife...
...A spokesman for the Immigration Department insisted it was making "every effort to finalise this application as quickly as possible". He said Mr Rafiq was free to return home without his wife, if he chose. Mr Rafiq's lawyer, Stephen Kenny, said this was not an option: "He's clearly very nervous about leaving [Sarab] in Iraq, and understandably so..."
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