Refugee rulings bring pain and joy
Ean Higgins; 28/5/08
At lunchtime on Friday, Bangladeshi Hafizur Rahman was working as a printer in Sydney’s western suburbs, with his boss Iain Ramsay singing his praises as the sort of skilled and keen employee the company needs. By that afternoon, Mr Rahman’s 12-year struggle to build a life in Australia was ended by the Department of Immigration, which ordered him to leave the country by June 6 and stripped him of his right to work. Mr Rahman was ordered to present within two weeks a plane ticket out of Australia. Barring an extraordinary reprieve, Mr Rahman has come to the end of the road in his claim that he is a political refugee from a repressive regime in Bangladesh. After all his legal avenues failed, Immigration Minister Chris Evans examined his request for ministerial intervention and ruled that he did not qualify for political asylum.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23770383-5013404,00.html
Chris Evans rejecting asylum requests by three to one
Ean Higgins; 28/5/08
Immigration Minister Chris Evans is rejecting calls from asylum-seekers for a reprieve from expulsion at a rate approaching three to one, according to the first departmental survey of the issue, expected to be released today. Senator Evans has instructed his department to provide quarterly surveys of the outcome of cases seeking ministerial intervention, information that in the past has been hidden in the intricacies of the bureaucracy. Government sources said last night Senator Evans was likely to release the figures today, possibly at a Senate estimates hearing. The Australian obtained advance details of the survey last night. The minister has broad discretion to overturn administrative and legal decisions on the fate of asylum-seekers, based on political or humanitarian grounds, including under the “Section 417″ applications often made as a last-ditch plea.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23770384-5013404,00.html