A Court Win For Asylum Seekers

About a decade ago the Howard Government, with the support of the Labor Party, brought in some legislation which restricted the rights of refugees who landed on islands around the coast. Basically the result was that if you landed at, say Christmas Island, you could not appeal against a decision by the Immigration Department to deny refugee status. On the other hand, refugees who landed on the mainland had full access to the legal system here.

That is why the Navy has worked so hard to keep people from landing here and why we have had processing centres in places like Nauru and Christmas Island.

The High Court has ruled that this artificial distinction is unlawful and that all refugees who come to any part of Australian territory have full access to the courts if they wish to appeal against their legal status.

I really hope that this will bring about a genuine re-think in our Government about the humane and responsible way to respond to boat people.

The ABC reports:

Immigration facing 'chaos' after High Court decision


A High Court decision on asylum seekers is threatening to undermine the Federal Government's offshore processing system.

In a judgement handed down today, the court upheld a challenge mounted by two Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers who had their refugee claims rejected.

The men wanted to challenge that decision in the courts but were prevented from doing so because they were being held in an offshore detention centre on Christmas Island.

However, in a unanimous decision, the High Court has ruled that was an error of law and that the two men were denied procedural fairness when Government contractors reviewed their case.

The decision calls the entire Commonwealth system of offshore processing for asylum seekers into question, with Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison saying the process has been "thrown into chaos".

The court found the Federal Government cannot deny access to the nation's court system to those asylum seekers who arrive by boat onto an area excised from Australia's migration zone.

Full article here