The Bakhtiyari family have been deported
Bakhtiaris now in Pakistan, 3 January 2005, news.com.au
The Minister, Sen. Amanda Vanstone, claims this family has had a fair go and should leave. (The Age, 19 Dec). The government insists the family is from Pakistan. (ABC, 18 Dec). Labor immigration spokesman Laurie Ferguson says their story lacks credibility (The Australian, 20 Dec).
- Paul Boylan, the family's solicitor, explains the evidence here, that the family is Hazara, from Afghanistan, and why no court has been able to act on it (20 Dec).
- Nick Poynder, the family's barrister, notes that no substantive response to this evidence has yet been received from the Minister's Office (21 Dec).
- Boylan & Co send an urgent s48B request to the Minister (22 Dec).
- Read the statement of Simon Russell, Norwegian Refugee Council in Afghanistan, who has met with Roqia Bakhtiyari's brother, Mazhar Ali, and confirms that he is Afghani.
- Read a report of how the family were forcibly removed form their home, by Dale West from Centacare, the South Australian agency that had been caring for the family before their transfer to Port Augusta.
- Read ChilOut's press release on the treatment of the family.
- Read "Tragedy of a common man", putting the family's case in context, by Mary Crock.
- NEW Email re the deportation from refugee supporters, John and Trish Highfield (31 Dec).
- NEW Read accounts of the family's treatment in detention prior to deportation, from Rosalie Lackie and Glenda Clarke. Letter to media (31 Dec). Letter to GSL, Baxter (1 Jan).
- Read news stories below...
What You Can Do
The perceived wisdom among those close to their case is that the best course to achieve their safety is allow them to be anonymous in their new surroundings and reduce the media pressure on them. Pamela Curr suggests “if there is still a fire in your belly use it to ask the media to investigate how much the govt paid Pakistan when they sold the Bahktiyaris? It used to be $10.000 for a 3 month entry visa into Pakistan from an Australian detention camp.
Read the documentation on this page. Express any disgust you might feel to your parliamentarians.
The Hon Amanda Vanstone (Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs).
Electoral Office: 81 Flinders Street, Adelaide SA 5000
Phone: 08/8223 1757 1800 018 282 (toll free)
Fax: 08/8223 1750
Mr Laurie Ferguson MP (Shadow Immigration Minister)
3rd Floor, 10 Bridge Street Granville, NSW, 2142
Tel: (02) 9637 4713
Fax: (02) 9682 6320
News Stories
Bakhtiyaris emerge in Afghanistan
Since their deportation, they have been in regular contact with the Adelaide Catholic welfare agency Centacare, which is understood to be sending them financial donations. Centacare director Dale West acted as guardian for the Bakhtiyari children - Alamdar, 16, Montazer, 14, Nagina, 12, Samina, 10, and Amina, 7 - when they were released into the community by order of the Family Court. Mr West confirmed the family was in Afghanistan but refused to elaborate, saying: "I don't believe that's in their interests." Refugee advocates such as Asylum Seeker Resource Centre co-ordinator Pamela Curr have raised concerns about the Bakhtiyaris' safety if their location is publicised.
Bakhtiyaris vanish after arriving in Pakistan
The Pakistani immigration official said the family's nationality could not be ascertained because they did not have any passports or identification papers when they arrived in Islamabad. "The person who gave guarantee later took them to Flashman's Hotel in nearby Rawalpindi," he said. The whereabouts of the Bakhtiyari family could not be traced immediately as the hotel staff told AFP that Bakhtiyaris came on Sunday, but were denied accommodation because they did not have passports or valid identification.
Bakhtiyari family arrives in Pakistan
The Federal Government has confirmed the Bakhtiyari family, which had sought asylum in Australia, has now arrived in Pakistan. [...] Senator Vanstone says the Bakhtiyari family will be billed for at least a third of the costs and unless they pay they will be denied any future visas. [...] "They may not be able to pay and it wouldn't be pursued beyond presenting the bill," she said. "But it is perfectly appropriate that people who come here and use or misuse the system understand the cost to the Australian taxpayer." [...] The Catholic welfare agency Centacare says it would now be futile to apply for visas to bring the children of the Bakhtiyari family back to Australia to complete their education. Centacare spokesman Dale West says that makes sponsoring the children to return to Australia virtually impossible. "Centacare, St Ignatius College and St Aloysius would be prepared to sponsor the children in relation to education visas," he said. "But if we needed to clear a $1 million, $2 million, $3 million debt first, then naturally that would be beyond any of our resources."
Bakhtiaris now in Pakistan
"After a delayed arrival in Pakistan caused by changed airline timetables, the family arrived in Pakistan early yesterday Australian time," Ms Vanstone said this morning."However, due to an attempt by one member of the family to disrupt the entry, processing took most of the day."
Deported family face $3m bill
The Bakhtiyari family could face a bill of more than $3million to repay the costs of their detention following their deportation from Australia. The family's location remained a mystery last night, more than 36 hours after immigration officials bundled Ali and Roqia Bakhtiyari and their children Alamdar, 16, Montazer, 14, Nagina, 12, Samina, 10, Amina, 7, and 14-month-old Mazhar on to a charter flight out of the country.
Bakhtiari family deported under cover of darkness
At just after 2.30am yesterday, Alamdar Bakhtiari, 16, the oldest of the six children, was glimpsed at the window of the RAAF charter plane flown into Port Augusta by the Department of Immigration to remove the failed asylum seekers. "He looked out and gave us a sad wave," said a refugee supporter who rushed to the airport after hearing around 11pm on Wednesday that a special flight to deport the family was flying in and would be leaving again some time before 3am.
Bakhtiyari family has left Australia
In a statement, Senator Vanstone said the family had been flown out of Australia after being declared medically fit by a doctor. "The timing of the family's departure was determined by the availability of the charter aircraft and transfer arrangements en route," she said. "The family had been advised last week that departure from Australia was their only option and arrangements were being made for them to return to Pakistan." [...] Justice for Refugees South Australia chairman Dr Don McMaster said the department's deportation of the Bakhtiyaris over the Christmas holiday period was a ploy to avoid media coverage. "It's doubling distressing for them because one, they don't want to go to Pakistan, and the way it is being done is very cloak and dagger," he said. [...] Meanwhile, Catholic welfare agency Centacare director Dale West said security guards took Mr Bakhtiyari out of the Baxter detention centre at 1am (AEDT) today. His wife and children were removed from their accommodation at the same time. "They have been the public face of the way people are treated in our detention system and people don't realise that one o'clock in the morning is the standard approach," he said.
Government defends secret deportation, 30 December 2004, The Age.
Bakhtiari family wants time to say goodbye
One of the Bakhtiari children, Muntazar, 14, on Monday pleaded for the Government to give them enough notice of their deportation to let them say their final farewells. "They probably will tell us five minutes before and that's it," Muntazar told Channel Ten News.
"Please inform us before so at least we can say goodbye to our friends."
Bakhtiaris prepare for deportation
The Bakhtiari family is expected to be flown to Adelaide on Monday morning to prepare for deportation from Australia, a refugee advocate said. Despite anxiously waiting for news on Boxing Day, Justice for Refugees South Australia president Don McMaster said a flight for Pakistan would depart on Monday at 3.30pm (AEDT) and the family, staying at a Port Augusta detention centre, was expected to board a charter flight to Adelaide on Monday.
Speculation continues on Bakhtiyaris' deportation
Dale West, from the Catholic welfare agency Centacare, says the family packed their bags on Christmas Day. He believes they will be flown out of the country today.
When a family tree casts only shade and doubt
The fate of the Bakhtiyaris now rests with Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone. With all avenues of legal appeal exhausted and an Immigration Act that requires her to remove asylum seekers who have no valid claim for refugee status, plus documentation from the Pakistani Government that the Bakhtiyaris are Pakistani nationals, her options are severely limited. She could exercise ministerial discretion and grant the family visas on compassionate grounds, acknowledging that they are Pakistani but also that there is plenty of evidence that they have sustained much emotional damage, and the children cannot be held responsible for their parents' mistakes.
Bakhtiyaris' last-ditch plea rejected
IMMIGRATION officials last night confirmed the Bakhtiyari family would be deported after federal minister Amanda Vanstone refused to consider a plea to reopen the asylum-seekers' case. Department officers said the minister would not consider the application as there was nothing new in it.
Locked in an identity crisis
Among the hundreds of thousands of Afghans who queued for their country's historic October election stood voter No.0547012 - a failed asylum-seeker named Mazhar Ali. Said to be the brother of Australia's most famous would-be refugee, Roqia Bakhtiyari, Mazhar Ali was branded a bogus refugee - a Pakistani, not an Afghan - by then immigration minister Philip Ruddock and deported to Pakistan in 2003. Why Mazhar Ali would go to Afghanistan and vote in the national election, braving snipers from the deposed Taliban regime as they fired into the queues, if he was a Pakistani is a puzzling notion.
Afghans reveal 'link' to Bakhtiyaris
Joining public debate over the family's identity for the first time, Afghan officials in Canberra said their Government had been "investigating" Roqia Bakhtiyari's claims that she was from Afghanistan since late 2003, but the evidence was "as yet inconclusive". "It is understood at least one person in the Jaghori district of Ghazni Province, whom Mrs Bakhtiyari has claimed to be related to, has confirmed the existence of such relations," the embassy said. Lawyers for Mrs Bakhtiyari's husband, Ali, wrote to Senator Vanstone yesterday urging her to use her discretion under s48B of the Migration Act to allow a fresh application for protection on the basis of new evidence that could prove they were Hazara Afghan refugees. The courts were unable to review the new evidence over the past two years.
In an interview with The Australian, Senator Vanstone said the new evidence had been considered by an Immigration Department "decision maker" and had been rejected. The department "was satisfied" the family was from Pakistan, Senator Vanstone said.
Protestors seek 'Afghan' family's asylum
About 100 protestors gathered outside the Federal Immigration Minister's office in Adelaide, demanding the Bakhtiari family be allowed to remain in Australia, The Australian reported.
The new Australian fair go
And so the story moves towards its end. The Bakhtiyari family's phones have been confiscated and they wait in the Baxter detention centre to be taken to Pakistan. They are asking to go to Afghanistan because that is where they come from, but Amanda Vanstone won't let them go there. Although they speak no Pakistani language and speak Farsi, the language of their home region of Uruzgan in accents appropriate to the region, they will go instead to Quetta, in Pakistan.
Welfare agency asks New Zealand to open its doors to Bakhtiari family
The South Australian Catholic welfare agency, Centacare, has written to the New Zealand Immigration Minister, Paul Swain, asking him to take in the Bakhtiari family. [...] Mr West said the letter had been sent while all options for the family's future were being explored the day before their sudden return to immigration detention early Saturday. He said he was less optimistic about New Zealand accepting them since they were returned to custody because the situation had become more political. "New Zealand doesn't want to embarrass Australia," Mr West said.
NZ refuses Bakhtiyari pleas (21 December, The Age).
Vanstone slams Bartlett hunger strike
Senator Vanstone said it was irresponsible for a member of parliament to set an example that could result in serious health problems. [...] "I hope to make them (asylum seekers) aware there is a lot of people in the Australian community supporting them and pressuring on their behalf, that they're not alone and they don't need to harm themselves further on top of the harm that's already been done to them by the government," [Senator Bartlett] said.
Government refuses Bakhtiari plea
The federal government today dismissed appeals from the Bakhtiari family to be returned to Afghanistan amid criticism it lacked compassion for the family's plight.
Labor backs Bakhtiyari verdict
LABOR'S immigration spokesman Laurie Ferguson yesterday joined the Howard Government in dismissing the Bakhtiyari family's plight, declaring the asylum-seekers' story lacked "credibility" and they should leave Australia.
Community devastated after Bakhtiyaris moved
Two of the Bakhtiayri children attended Adelaide's St Ignatius College.
Prayers for the family were offered at a church service held at the school this morning. Teacher Dianne Campbell says the community is shocked that no-one had the chance to say 'goodbye' properly. "We can't just give one more hug and say goodbye, that's what's hurting me the most you know," she said. Class mate Sam Hooper says he is sad for his friends. "As Amanda Vanstone says they've exhausted all their options, but I don't understand why they can't stay and become Australians or live amongst us like they were," he said.
Refugee family goes back into detention
Senator Vanstone said the return to guarded three-bedroom accommodation at Port Augusta, nearer to Ali Bakhtiyari who remained in the Baxter detention centre, would benefit them all. She said Mr Bakhtiyari's fortnightly visits to Adelaide to see his family - where he would stay under guard in a motel not far from their home - were unsatisfactory. While agreeing that the move was not wanted by the family, she said the return to detention in Port Augusta would benefit them.
"The placement of the family at the housing project at Port Augusta means they can all see their father and Mrs Bakhtiyari can have more support from Mr Bakhtiyari, so I expect these arrangements will work quite well," she said.
[...] Mr Bakhtiyari's lawyer, Paul Boylan, said no one who knew the family doubted they were from Afghanistan, but the Government could not admit it was wrong. "They have to save face," he said. "These are the most high-profile refugees in Australia."
ChilOut deplores treatment of Bakhtiyari family
ChilOut is outraged by the Australian government's treatment of an Afghan family of seven who have been seeking asylum for the past four years. At 7 o'clock this morning, the mother, five children and baby were forcibly transferred to Port Augusta's immigration detention centre. They fear that they will be deported to Pakistan tonight. Grave fears are held for the family's safety. ChilOut and other human rights agencies are alerting international bodies such as the Red Cross, UN High Commissioner for Refugees and UNICEF that Australia may dump an extremely vulnerable refugee family in Pakistan.
Vanstone defends decision to move Bakhtiyaris
Immigration officials went to the Bakhtiyari family home at 7:00am ACDT to collect the family and take them to the Residential Housing Project at Port Augusta, in South Australia's north. A spokesman for the family says Immigration Department officials turned up at the house unannounced this morning and made the family leave immediately in two cars. They claim the family was not allowed to pack belongings and mobile phones were confiscated.
Bakhtiyari family moved
Lawyers representing Australia's highest-profile asylum seekers, the Bakhtiyari family, say the mother and her six children have been moved out of a house in Adelaide to Port Augusta, possibly in readiness to be deported.