Jewel Topsfield; 16/5/08
The terror of fleeing the Taliban and ethnic cleansing in Afghanistan, a hair-raising journey in a rickety boat and three years of detention on Nauru is more than anyone should have to endure. But even after asylum seekers such as Mohammad Dawlat-Hussain were found to be genuine refugees, the former government sought to punish them for another five years, Immigration Minister Chris Evans said yesterday. Mr Dawlat-Hussain, whose boat reached Ashmore Reef in 2001, is one of almost 1000 refugees who will be granted permanent residency within months of the Government’s abolition of the controversial temporary protection visa.