Australia accused of Refugee Refoulement in Deportations to China

"Advocates are heartsick about the fate of three men sent back to China", says Pamela Curr of the ASRC. "We have heard nothing from these men, we do not know if they are dead or alive. Because of the grave risk of yet another disappearance, a UN Human Rights Communication was sought to stay the removal of a fourth man on Monday. This was successful." says Curr. "Advocates are gravely concerned about these removals - It appears that Minister Andrews is clearing out the detention centres with scant attention to the non-refoulement provision(1) in the UN Refugee Convention to which Australia is signatory."

"SB" was arrested and tortured for five months before fleeing to Australia. He was repeatedly beaten, kicked and subjected to electric laser guns while trussed in a cell so small that he could not extend his legs. "It is distressing and disturbing that despite having this information before him Minister Andrews still decided to sign his removal warrant," says Curr. "Australia does not have an extradition treaty with China precisely because we have no trust in their judicial system and abhor their human rights record or torture and execution, yet Minister Andrews is prepared to send people back to China."

"We fear that SB, a Tibetan sympathiser has been killed. He was removed from Australia on the 28th June. Calls to his family in China have confirmed that they never saw him and are frantic about his disappearance. Now we cannot even contact his wife." Curr continues.

"MQ and Z have also disappeared. DIAC escorts say that they have no control once the detainees are on Chinese soil." reports Curr. A letter from a Chinese woman who volunteered to return in 2006, reveals that she was immediately arrested, placed in a cell with no blankets or bed and moved over the next few days to another prison. She was able to bribe a guard with a USD $100 given to her by a friend in Australia, for access to his mobile. She rang her family and they came with a money bribe and secured her release. This woman had no political history but was still imprisoned on return.

Amnesty International (AI) in its 2005 Report on China states that "Torture and ill-treatment continued to be reported in a wide variety of state institutions despite the introduction of several new regulations aimed at curbing the practice. Common methods included kicking, beating, electric shocks, suspension by the arms, shackling in painful positions, and sleep and food deprivation.

Executions by lethal injection rose, facilitating the extraction of organs from executed prisoners, a lucrative business. In November a deputy minister announced that the majority of transplanted organs came from executed prisoners. In July new regulations banned the buying and selling of organs and required written consent from donors for organ removal.

Advocates are asking the Minister to consider the lives of those over whom he has ultimate power and not to return them to countries where they are at risk of torture and execution.

Pamela Curr
Campaign Co-coordinator
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC)

[1] The Convention imposes a major obligation on countries that have signed it- that of "non-refoulement." Non-refoulement means that no country may deport or expel a person to a country where that person faces persecution, or risk of serious human rights violations.