RAC Press Release, 24th May 2012 On Friday, 25th May, refugee rights activists will stage a protest at 12:30 pm outside the Department of Immigration office building in the Melbourne CBD.
The demonstration has been called by the Refugee Action Collective of Victoria to protest against the fact that around 60 asylum seekers continue to be detained indefinitely because ASIO has assessed them as 'security threats'. Two weeks ago, a Tamil refugee who was the subject of a negative security assessment attempted suicide in the Broadmeadows detention centre. Another refugee, Ranjini, has received substantial media coverage because she received a negative assessment after living safely in the community with her two children and new husband. She has been sent back to Villawood Detention Centre, and has since been found to be pregnant.
ASIO has come under public fire for these security checks. Declan Murphy, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Collective, says that "the ASIO checks create a terrifying situation for these innocent asylum seekers. Although they are found to be legitimate refugees, they still face a potential life behind bars because of their negative assessment."
Lawyers and civil liberties organisations have criticised ASIO's practice because it refuses to provide any reasons for the security assessments that it makes. This means that refugees have no right to appeal their negative assessments. Murphy describes this as "a complete denial of natural justice. ASIO is acting with no transparency and with total impunity."
ASIO has also been criticised for the fact that a number of children have received negative security assessments.
"We need to end these ASIO security checks. They are about demonising refugees. No asylum seeker who comes to Australia by boat is a security threat. They are simply innocent people fleeing from persecution and war. The Australian government, carrying out human rights abuses like this, is the real threat. These ASIO checks are a particularly vile face of the Government's inhumane asylum policy."