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May 26th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
David Manne, refugee lawyer. Photo: Craig Sillitoe
DAVID MANNE is on the legal hunt again. Manne is the Melbourne refugee lawyer who led the High Court challenge that stymied the Malaysian people swap, forcing a reluctant government to retreat from the idea of offshore processing.
Now, on behalf of a Sri Lankan man, he is challenging the indefinite detention, without the right of review, of people who are judged to be refugees but ASIO deems security risks.
Whether or not Manne and his team win this court battle, they are likely to win the war, or at least a significant victory in it, because the government is already under pressure to act – Attorney-General Nicola Roxon is examining options – and the high-profile case will give it a sharp shove along.
Some 50 refugees, most of them Sri Lankans, are in detention because they have been labelled security risks. The Tamil at the centre of the court case has been there more than three years; other detainees include a pregnant woman with two children. Unlike an Australian citizen or permanent resident, who has the right to have the Administrative Appeals Tribunal review an adverse ASIO assessment, these people can’t get access to that. They have not been charged with a crime, but they are in a black hole.
The ALP has been unhappy with this situation for some time; it was said at last year’s national conference that expert advice should be sought about setting up a review mechanism for ”procedural fairness”. More recently a parliamentary inquiry, headed by Labor’s Daryl Melham, who chairs caucus, called for change.
The majority report urged that these people be given access to the tribunal, as well as having ASIO regularly look at their assessments. It also proposed the government find ways of getting them out of detention, such as by making them subject to a form of monitoring. Countries such as Britain, Canada and New Zealand manage this.
Melham said when the report was released: ”I do not accept the fact that someone who is a non-citizen gets second-class rights when it comes to their liberty.”
The proposal that they have access to the tribunal is quite conservative. The person being reviewed there is not provided with the details on which the adverse assessment has been based. Manne would think that should be part of a liberalised system.
The issues are vexed, although some points are clear. It seems self-evident that there should be a review process – this ought to be a basic right. The question of the material people (or a security-cleared advocate) are shown is more contentious; ASIO is protective of its information. Then there is the matter of what to do with those whose adverse assessments are confirmed by the review.
No government wants to be in the position of letting someone into the community to later find they are involved in a terrorist-type incident. On the other hand, these people can’t be locked up forever.
They can’t be sent home, because they have been found to be refugees, which means they face the risk of persecution. A third country won’t be taking them.
It comes down to balancing rights and risks. Some arrangement that ensures they go into the community, but are watched closely, would be the most humane and practical way of acting. It’s time the government got on with it.
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