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In amongst all the excited commentary about Liberal Senator Judith Troeth crossing the floor over yesterday’s detention debt abolition bill, Crikey asked some refugees what the passage of the bill means to them.
Since 1992, refugees have been required to pay the costs of their mandatory detention. Less than 3 per cent is ever recovered.
Refugee Kasian Wililo and his wife Emily live in NSW and have two young children with another one on the way. Kasian Wililo, a former detainee of Baxter Detention Centre, currently has an outstanding debt of $161,000.
Emily and Kasian told Crikey:
As you can imagine — the last seven years for Kasian has been full of trauma, systematic abuse, insecurity and fear of an uncertain future, with two and a half years spent locked behind physical bars, and five behind bars of temporary visas and a depressing debt for his incarceration.
Despite this, Kasian and I have held firmly to our faith in God that all will eventually be well… Since Kasian’s release, we have managed to move forward with our life — having two gorgeous boys Harry 3, and Moses 1 1/2 (and another baby due in October).
We have been able to buy our first home and settle into jobs that we love. Amidst all of this has been a deep pain and anxiety over the consequences of this massive detention debt. The result of yesterday’s outcome in the Senate to pass the bill to abolish the debt now means that Kasian’s seven year process of trying to find security and identity in Australia will now be a reality.
It means that he no longer has to exist on a Temporary Spouse visa, but will be able to move forward with our application for the Permanent Spouse Visa (that has been stalled in the system for two years while we refused to pay the debt.)
Once the Permanent Spouse Visa is granted we will then be able to travel overseas, hopefully early 2010 in order to reunite with Kasian’s family whom he hasn’t seen since he left Tanzania in late 2002. After 12 months he will be able to apply for citizenship finally!
On a deeper level, the abolition of this bill symbolizes a gesture of compassion and carries the weight of an apology from our government who is saying that it’s time for a new day in our immigration policies, let’s close this dark chapter of our nation’s history — which is monumental on a national scale; and a catalyst for healing and hope on a personal scale for our little family.
Iranian refugee Masoud Shams was in detention for four years, from September 2000 — September 2004. During his detention his punishments included solitary confinement, once in an unlit soundproof padded cell. The UN Human Rights Commission has acknowledged that Masoud’s rights were abused, noting Masoud’s extended stays in extreme isolation.
Around a year after he was released, Masoud, who sought refuge after arriving from Iran, and his wife Evelyn received notification of his outstanding Commonwealth debt: $257,225.10. Plus $4,857.50 in legal costs.
Masoud has been on a ‘temporary’ spouse visa, “which means he can’t leave (has no passport) and he can’t stay unless he pays. His permanent visa is ready but will not be released to him until he has agreed to a payment arrangement,” Ms Shams told Crikey back in December last year. The government had earlier indicated to Ms Shams that a payment plan should be possible by including her wages and the couple’s home into the calculations.
Evelyn and Masoud told Crikey:
It’s an awesome relief. This debt has basically felt like a punishment. Masoud always felt like he was punished for coming here and this was just another punishment. A double whammy. And it almost felt like a punishment for marrying an Australian because they raised a bill against Masoud on the basis that he was not a refugee [he was on a spousal visa instead, his brother was granted refugee status.]
The debt was more of a psychological burden than anything else. From the moment he was released on a bridging visa Masoud was issued with this debt, so he had a level of guilt [that never left him], he felt that all he’d done was bring yet another round of problems to our relationship.
Psychologically [this debt] has weighed on Masoud as a signal that he will always be unwelcome and barely tolerated. The fact that there’s now been a vote to say this is not fair completely changes the psyche of it. It says there really doesn’t have to be anything personal about this, so many people have suffered with the notion that no one wants them here and this debt has been just another signal of that [sentiment].
When we appealed the initial decision to charge Masoud for his detention we had a fairly blunt letter coming back, saying well Masoud, you might not have any assets in order to pay this bill but we’re sure your wife does. It seemed like a grab at an Australian citizen’s assets. Rather than just targeting a refugee, it struck us as a very overt grab where there was a chance of perhaps acquiring some of the debt…
Nobody who is on the run ever gets an advertisement to tell them that they will be charged for their detention. People are not in a position to know this information before they come so there is no point. All of the information that Masoud learnt about where he was going, he learnt from the people bringing him here. He didn’t even know he was coming to Australia. It’s very naive to think that genuine refugees are in any position to do any homework, and to choose a nation. It doesn’t work like that.
Masoud is still waiting for his visa. He’s been in the country nine years. After two years of marriage he was eligible for a permanent visa and they have refused to issue it because we were appealing the debt. To this day he still does not have a visa.
Masoud is desperate to see family back in Iran. He even sought out temporary travel papers from DFAT so that he could meet up with his family in a third country but he was denied.
[We’ve had no correspondence from the government or the Immigration Department] about the bill. We’ve just read about it in the paper. Masoud got desperate about five, six months ago, he said ‘I can’t wait anymore.’ He signed papers to say he was prepared to undertake payment of the bill. But he has had no feedback and still doesn’t have a visa.
But there are those worse off than us. I know of a man who sent his wife and children back home because the family were suffering so much in detention. He eventually got a visa and then received a bill for his detention. He applied for his family to join him in Australia and was denied, he was told that they couldn’t come over until he had paid his family’s detention debt.
He wasn’t able to afford to pay the debt so he’s been forcibly separated from his family. Masoud and I are lucky…
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12 Comments
I’d like to see an itemized account of the $161k debt.
I am 83 and world hardened, yet these stories bring tears to my eyes. How on earth could a so called LIBERAL govt impose such a cruel burden on people already suffering the trauma of their journey here and incarceration to boot. Thank God Senator Judith Toreth crossed the floor to enable the passage of this CORRECTIONAL Bill into Law. What have other LIBERAL senators ,who did not, got to say for themselves: They should be ashamed!
Calling them liberal is a misnomer, as they are in fact a conservative party.
I am afraid that this type of bastardry made me ashamed of my country. At least we are now correcting our unconscenable behavior through the current parliament; and that we got rid of the unfeeling creatures who designed this offensive legislation.
Could this be the humble beginnings of a new Liberal Party growing a social conscience? I’ve written a related piece about the significance of Judith crossing the floor over at Gutter Trash.
http://guttertrash.wordpress.com/2009/09/09/a-liberal-with-a-conscience/#comment-4655
Somehow, I think there will be one or two Liberals that won’t be happy with Judith’s conduct. Only last week they were slamming Rudd’s decision to allow children to be ‘processed’ on the mainland rather than on Christmas Island. There were the usual howls of protest about the ‘floodgates opening up.’
I posted on a site yesterday about this issue, and said I communicated with Masoud and his brother while they were in detention. I lost contact and it probably happened on one of the occasions they were in solitary, but I had a very clear impression, that they were lovely young men, who had to flee for their lives. I’m glad they did!
Like you Steven, I was ashamed of my country and how we looked around the world. According to a comment I heard Julian Burnside QC make, our reputation was tarnished indeed!What an absolute disgraceful, heartless, cruel and unjust policy it was, and I will never forget that the conservatives refused to vote for the change, even though the present Opposition spokesperson is Sharman Stone, who was the Opposition’s person on the committee that discussed and then decided on these changes. They did a complete turn around as they thought they could get some mileage out of the boat loads of mostly Afghani asylum seekers. Use Howard’s racist card? Well done Judith Treoth, indeed a ‘woman of substance’! As for the others who didn’t cross the floor because they are worried about their political futures - every man/woman has their price - now we know what theirs is!
I’m delighted that these horrific debts have been removed, and people can get on with their lives, their relationships and hopefully visit and/or bring loved ones here. I wish them every happiness and success for their futures. Imagine if they wanted to further their education, they’d be stuck with HECS as well? Kids? A house?
The article was very interesting particularly the gaps in the story about Masoud. it asked more question than it answered. He may have got a bad deal but it doesn’t explain, why he ended up not knowing which country he was going to, why he is a refugee in the first place, how he entered the country and how he as a refugee was on a spouse visa and what he did to get solitary confinement. It is hard to be too sympathetic until you know the answer to these questions.
It reminded me of the 6.30 pm current affairs shows that only broadcast one side of the story. Not really my sort of journalism, it may well have done Massoud a disservice.
I regularly visited the Baxter Detention Centre in South Australia a few years ago. It was traumatising for the visitors, let alone the inmates. During the previous Government’s tenure I wrote to the few Liberal MPs that had sufficient decency and conscience to oppose their own Government’s vile policies. (Give credit where credit is due, I say, irrespective of political stripes.) Those asylum seekers now living in the community (almost all of them) have been left with a number of traumatic legacies from Australia’s treatment of them but show resilience and determination to make the best of the opportunities given to them. The more the Australian Government can do to ease their pain and distress at our treatment of them, on top of their original traumas, the better. What is decent about asking people our Government traumatised to pay for that brutality? I will again write to a Liberal MP commending her for being a lone voice in her party to exercise conscience and some basic human decency. Well done Judith Troeth.
whilst leaving refugees with a debt is not practical, lets get something straight, it was a legacy from the Keating Government and not the Howard Government. The Howard Government was responsible for tightening border controls, which is widely accepted in Australia and a big contributor for his election win in 2001.
I agree with your comments RNPCOOPER, there are 2 sides to every story and for every case which is a ‘medias delight’, there are other cases of refugees which go through the visa system seamlessly and are delighted with the outcome.
RNCOOPER, SIMMOBC, Masoud doesn’t have to justify himself by giving you his life story. Australia was the only country in the world to charge people for their detention.
you are right Laura however I was mostly referring to previous posts try to hang the Howard Government when in fact, it was the Keating Government that introduced this component to our immigration laws.
RNPCOOPER - Those of us who’ve followed the horrific road of too many asylum seekers know, that they didn’t have to do much to end up in solitary confinement - just asking the wrong questions was enough; or refusing to do something that was unreasonable, unjust etc. If Masoud complained about his younger brother’s treatment, would no doubt be enough ‘reason’ for him to be locked up in solitary. That’s where Cornelia Rau was put too! The real issue is the fact, that seeking asylum is NOT a criminal act. Australia is a signatory to the UN Declaration on Human Rights, and the Declaration on the Rights of the Child. The Howard govt renewed their commitment to this important declaration - they broke it on many occasions - just the fact of locking up people(particularly kids,for 4 years??) without them even being charged with any crime was abhorrent to many of us - thankfully opposition grew and forced the changes. Perhaps you could read some of the very informative books available; “Dark Victory” (David Marr & Marian Wilkinson) about the Tampa debacle, “Seeking Asylum” Heather Tyler, “From Nothing to Zero” written from the perspective of children. The title is what one little child said was his experiences, he came ‘from nothing to zero’? What a disgraceful blot on this country’s attitude to “family values” etc.(these books are available at my local library) “A Last Resort” the inquiry into the effects of detention on children, and how it should only be implemented as ‘a last resort’? ‘Chilout’ web site is a good place to read about asylum seekers, particularly children. You may recall, that the UN were at first refused permission to view detention centres, and then only on certain conditions, and they were prohibited from certain forms of publicity? Why was that do you think?
There’s another book that explains what happened to some asylum seekers who were forcibly deported; that book is called “Following them Home”. The Edmond Rice Peace & Justice Committee’s web site has lots of info, including terrible stories of people who were deported. One of the worst was the woman from China who was heavily pregnant - almost full term. She pleaded to be able to stay, at least until after her child was born. She was refused. She was deported and her child was aborted - so much for family values; I didn’t hear the right wingers, those highly christian people who treasure our “family values” like Abbott, Minchin, Howard etc say one word in her defence. It was many women and sympathetic decent men who advocated on her behalf - to no avail! She’s probably damaged for life! What trauma! There’s the woman who went on a hunger strike, as she and her kids were locked up in cells (young kids too) and although the toilet was close by, they weren’t allowed out, and she used old clothes in the corner for her kids to ‘wee’ on - the ‘jailers’ finally relented. This stuff is what we read about in Iran or Guantanamo Bay - it has no place in a so-called civilized country like ours - not one where the leaders strut around with chests blown out, saying ‘aren’t we good’?
I don’t need to ask questions about individuals. I know what the policies were, and how people were treated. If we stopped killing their family members in Iraq & Afghanistan, they may not be forced to flee. I don’t care who started it all, Howard made it infinitely worse, for racist reasons, to help him get re-elected, and because he’s a hypocritical bastard! Because of their policies, many people, including children will require psychological or psychiatric help for the rest of their lives. If people are worried about money, add that to the at least $1 billion the pacific solution cost us all!
I don’t watch the rubbish on corporate TV stations - they serve their best interests - which is supporting illegal wars for monetry gain, via the stealing of resources etc! They’re also only interested in USING peoples’ misery to gain viewers! They have no semblance of decency or good journalism! In short, it’s grot!