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Project SafeCom News and Updates 27 March 2006 (1)
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Project SafeCom
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Mar 27, 2006 00:35 PST
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Project SafeCom News and Updates 27 March 2006 (1)
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¤ - In this Edition - ¤
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1. Mentally ill citizen held for 253 days
2. Mentally ill man the worst case, says Ombudsman
3. Vanstone admits dept has long way to go
4. Mentally ill, wrongfully detained
5. Vanstone says 'sorry' to detainee
6. Bungles show 'entrenched cruelty'
7. Ruddock: illegal detention is not my fault
8. Hanging on by the seat of his pants
9. Immigration questions African athletes
10. Indonesia attacks senators over Papua stance
11. African athletes granted bridging visas
12. Migrant sham
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============================
1. Mentally ill citizen held for 253 days
============================
The Australian
Cath Hart
March 24, 2006
A SCHIZOPHRENIC Australian citizen was wrongly detained three times by the
Immigration Department over four years.
"Mr T", born in Vietnam, spent 253 days in Villawood detention centre, a
report released yesterday by the Commonwealth Ombudsman shows.
Mr T's case follows the wrongful detention of Cornelia Rau and the wrongful
deportation of Vivian Alvarez, who are also Australian citizens.
Commonwealth Ombudsman John McMillan said Mr T's case was disturbing and
featured the same systemic failures.
It also highlighted "serious problems experienced by the department in the
management of cases involving people suffering from mental illness".
In addition to a negative culture, poor understanding of the Migration Act,
rigid application of procedures and poor training, the report found there
had been "an abrogation of duty of care responsibilities".
Professor McMillan's report found that Mr T, who was diagnosed as
schizophrenic before he came to Australia and is now in a psychiatric
hospital, became homeless after arriving and was in "regular contact" with
NSW police.
Police first detained him in March 1999 at Newcastle, north of Sydney, and
he spent four days at Villawood before being released. He was arrested in
Sydney in January 2003, and again taken to Villawood, where he gave
conflicting information about his identity but claimed to be an Australian
citizen.
It took eight months before the mistake was realised. Mr T was then given
$20 and released, unaccompanied.
A month later, he was detained again for five days.
Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone and department secretary Andrew
Metcalfe have apologised to the man and offered him an ex-gratia assistance
package.
Senator Vanstone will meet the Ombudsman's staff to assess whether any
public servants engaged in "culpable conduct" in dealing with Mr T.
DIMA has accepted "the thrust" of 11 recommendations made in the report,
and NSW police are reviewing their guidelines for referring a person to
immigration officials.
Opposition immigration spokesman Tony Burke said the case showed the
department's "culture of cover-up".
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18583564%255E2702,00.html
=======================================
2. Mentally ill man the worst case, says Ombudsman
=======================================
Sydney Morning Herald
By David Humphries
March 24, 2006
TAXPAYERS face a big compensation payout to a Sydney man wrongly detained
by the Immigration Department as an illegal alien on three separate
occasions and for a total of eight months.
Mr T, 45, a Vietnamese Australian of Chinese ethnicity, is in a psychiatric
hospital with schizophrenia, an illness diagnosed in a Malaysian refugee
camp before he arrived in Australia 22 years ago. He was granted Australian
citizenship in 1989.
His case was described by the Ombudsman, John McMillan, as the worst of 221
sent to him last year by the Immigration Minister, Amanda Vanstone.
It comes on top of wrongful detention scandals involving other bona fide
and mentally ill Australian residents - Cornelia Rau, who was incarcerated
for 12 months, and Vivian Alvarez Solon, who was deported to her native
Philippines.
In his findings yesterday, Professor McMillan said the system failed Mr T
because Immigration had been too ready to assume illegality and too
unwilling to make the necessary identity checks. He portrayed a department
- two years ago, at least - that was authoritarian, unco-ordinated and
undertrained.
"Mr T's case provides clear evidence of an urgent need for the department
to address detainee mental health issues," Professor McMillan said.
He acknowledged changes implemented since the upheaval precipitated by the
Rau and Solon disasters.
Professor McMillan said the Government must right some wrong by
compensating Mr T.
Senator Vanstone, whose written apology was delivered to Mr T on Wednesday
night, said yesterday the manner of his compensation mattered less than the
Government's commitment to "handle this matter in the most expeditious and
fair and reasonable fashion".
"Where we get it wrong, we should answer for that. And the Ombudsman is a
credible part of that process."
Senator Vanstone said the Ombudsman was called in because "questions
hanging over the administration of Immigration needed to be cleaned up".
The Opposition immigration spokesman, Tony Burke, said "there will be huge
compensation bills for this". While money could not undo the harm, "there
is no way you can treat an Australian citizen this way without the
taxpayers of Australia having to fork out a huge bill".
George Newhouse, solicitor for Ms Solon and Ms Rau, said Mr T stood to
receive more than the $400,000 given this year to Shayan Badraie, the
Iranian boy who developed post-traumatic stress disorder from exposure to
suicide attempts and abuse in detention centres. "And he was legally
detained," said Mr Newhouse, who was sceptical about Immigration changes.
He said compensation for Ms Solon was expected within weeks but the
Government was dragging its feet on compensating Ms Rau, a year after
apologising to her.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/mentally-ill-man-the-worst-case-says-ombudsman/2006/03/23/1143083906358.html
================================
3. Vanstone admits dept has long way to go
================================
Nine News
Friday Mar 24 10:38 AEDT
Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone admits her department still has a long
way to go in reforming its ways, as more cases emerge of wrongful
immigration detention.
On Thursday, the Commonwealth Ombudsman released a report which found the
immigration department wrongly held a mentally ill Australian citizen,
known only as Mr T, in detention on three occasions between 1999 and 2003.
The report found department officials could have discovered the
Vietnamese-born Australian citizen's identity when he was first detained if
they had taken his fingerprints.
Senator Vanstone has described the latest victim of her department's
bungling as a tragic case.
"I think it is the most tragic case ... we said to this man, 'Come to us,
you know, we'll give you a better life' and 15 years later we hadn't done
it and 20 years later we hadn't done it," she told ABC radio.
Senator Vanstone said her department was already addressing many of its
problems, but there was still a lot to be done.
"We've managed ... to implement a tremendous amount of change, but we've
got a lot more to do," she said.
"We've made most of the decisions about what change needs to happen but ...
ministers can put out press releases and governments can allocate money,
but it nonetheless takes time for implementation.
"But I think that's a better process, doing this change solidly from the
ground up and in the best way every time," she said.
Senator Vanstone rejected claims Mr T himself could in any way be blamed
for his wrongful detention, but said this was not always the case.
"I can't see the slightest possibility for contributory negligence on Mr
T's part," she said.
"But there are other circumstances and other cases where people have, it
appears, quite deliberately not assisted in their identification, and in
those circumstances protracted their immigration detention."
©AAP 2005
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=59399
=========================
4. Mentally ill, wrongfully detained
=========================
Press Statement
George Newhouse
A solicitor for Vivian Solon and Cornelia Rau said that "the tragic case of
Mr T highlights the continuing systemic failures of our migration system".
"Amanda Vanstone has apologised to Mr T and I am sure that is of some
comfort to his family but I doubt that will be translated into anything
meaningful.
"It has been 12 months since the Prime Minister and Amanda Vanstone
apologised for the wrongful detention of Cornelia Rau and yet she
languishes without compensation to this day. In fact the government refuses
to even confirm that they will avoid years of painful and protracted
litigation for Cornelia by admitting liability and submitting to arbitration.
"The Minister needs to understand that the systemic problems within his
department will not be fixed by educational programmes and better
databases. You cannot educate away prejudice.
"The Migration Act needs to be urgently reformed so that these sorts of
cases can never occur again. We don't let our local police lock up
criminals without going before a judge. Why would you let low ranking DIMIA
officers be the judge jury and executioner of these vulnerable people? It
beggars belief. Even the Liberal Senators on the Senate Committee
investigating the deportation of Vivian Solon acknowledged that the
operation of s189 of the Migration Act was the root cause of these problems
and yet far from addressing the problems in the legislative regime, recent
amendments to the act make it harder for detainees to get access to legal
advice and the courts.
"Until these issues are addressed one has to take Minister Vanstone's
apology with a grain of salt.
George Newhouse
[Member of the legal teams for Vivian Solon and Cornelia Rau]
==========================
5. Vanstone says 'sorry' to detainee
==========================
The Age
By Andra Jackson
March 24, 2006
THE Immigration Minister, Amanda Vanstone, rejected calls for a royal
commission into her department yesterday after being forced to apologise
for the wrongful detention of a mentally ill man, known only as "Mr T".
Senator Vanstone's comments came with the release of a damning report by
the Commonwealth Ombudsman into the 45-year-old Vietnamese-born man's
treatment after he was first picked up by police on the streets of Newcastle.
Mr T, who has been an Australian citizen since 1989, suffers schizophrenia
and was locked up in Sydney's Villawood detention centre three times
between 1999 and 2003 — at one stage he was held for eight months.
"We will handle any claims for compensation, short-term assistance in the
most expeditious and fair and reasonable way," Senator Vanstone said.
Labor immigration spokesman Tony Burke called for then immigration minister
Philip Ruddock to accept responsibility and resign.
In a case which has echoes of the treatment of Cornelia Rau, the Ombudsman,
Professor John McMillan, said in his report he found a series of mistakes
or omissions prolonged efforts to identify Mr T, including mistranslations
of his name by interpreters.
He found that Mr T's fingerprints had been on a police database since he
was arrested for stealing in 1985, but immigration officers had failed to
check that source.
"It is alarming. The fact that readily available identification means like
that weren't used for months and months is disturbing," Professor McMillan
said.
"I think it shows that in the management of the administrative detention
environment people weren't adequately focused on what it meant to be
holding someone in detention."
His criticisms were echoed by the federal president of the Vietnamese
Community in Australia, Tuen Manh Nguyen.
"This is a very sad case and once again it highlights the shortcomings of
the Immigration Department, Dr Nguyen said.
"They should do better than this.
"It is surprising that he was detained three times over four years yet no
one ever contacted the Vietnamese Community in Australia in NSW."
He called for provision to be made for the department to liaise with ethnic
community organisations to help identify anyone in unable to provide
coherent information and to locate any family.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman's released a report yesterday that found that Mr
T was detained in Villawood for a total of 253 days.
He also raised the concern that "for someone who is schizophrenic, there is
no follow-up to ensure they are looked after, which is disappointing."
Professor McMullan blamed a "negative culture" and "systematic failures"
existing within the Immigration Department for the mistreatment of the
mentally ill man.
With AAP
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/vanstone-says-sorry-to-detainee/2006/03/23/1143083906893.html
===========================
6. Bungles show 'entrenched cruelty'
===========================
David Cranshaw
By David Crawshaw
23mar06
THE case of a mentally ill Australian citizen wrongly held in immigration
detention bore a striking resemblance to the plight of Cornelia Rau, Ms
Rau's sister said today.
Commonwealth Ombudsman John McMillan today released a report which found
the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA) wrongly held
a mentally ill Australian, Mr T, in immigration detention on three
occasions between 1999 and 2003.
The case of the 45-year-old Vietnamese born man who has been a citizen
since 1989 was among 200 instances of Australians wrongly detained by DIMA
and reviewed by Professor McMillan.
His report said Mr T's severe mental illness, homelessness, poor English
and ethnic background had contributed to DIMA's decision to detain him in
Sydney's Villawood detention centre.
Christine Rau today said the case was like that of her mentally ill sister
Cornelia, who was wrongly held in Baxter Detention Centre after immigration
authorities mistook her for an illegal immigrant.
"It mirrors Cornelia's case in the sense that DIMA officers just assume a
person is an unlawful non-citizen, and all the while having unchecked
powers of detention," Ms Rau said.
"There seem to be quite a lot of similarities between the cases in the
ombudsman's investigation and Cornelia's case, and the Alvarez case."
Australian resident Vivian Alvarez, also known as Vivian Solon, was
deported to the Philippines in 2001 after being wrongly identified as an
illegal immigrant.
Ms Rau said she could not comprehend how DIMA could have incarcerated Mr T
on three separate occasions.
"You might be able to understand that once, for a short time, they could
mistake someone for an unlawful non-citizen," she said.
"But I still can't understand how you can repeat that mistake twice."
Ms Rau said DIMA had a culture of "entrenched cruelty" under which
detainees were deemed less worthy of humane treatment, and this would not
change without whole scale reform.
Ms Alvarez's lawyer George Newhouse today said Mr T's case demonstrated the
need for cultural change within DIMA.
"The case of Mr T proves that the systems in DIMA are so broken that unless
there's substantial legislative reform, it's likely we will end up with
more of these people being wrongly detained," Mr Newhouse said.
"You couldn't lock up a rapist or a murderer indefinitely on the whim of a
police officer, but our laws allow DIMA to detain vulnerable people, some
of whom are Australians, who have never committed a crime.
"This is another example of a poor, vulnerable person who got caught up in
the DIMA dragnet."
http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,18575966%255E421,00.html
===============================
7. Ruddock: illegal detention is not my fault
===============================
Sydney Morning Herald
March 23, 2006 - 2:45PM
Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, a former immigration minister,
says he should not be held accountable for the illegal detention of a
mentally ill man known as Mr T.
The commonwealth ombudsman's latest report deals with the case of a
45-year-old Mr T, who was held in Sydney's Villawood detention centre three
times in four years between 1999 and 2003.
Two of the incidents happened during Mr Ruddock's term as immigration
minister and the third detention happened just days after current minister
Amanda Vanstone took over.
Mr Ruddock rejected suggestions he should take ministerial responsibility
for the bungle which at one point left the the mentally ill Vietnamese-born
man in Villawood for eight months.
He said he took responsibility for his own actions and the instructions he
gave others.
"I take responsibility for decisions I take," he told reporters in Melbourne.
"I've always made it very clear that officers of the department when I was
minister were required to take lawful decisions.
Mr Ruddock said he could not be held accountable for actions he hadn't
taken in ensuring the immigration department was running properly.
"It would be an interesting standard of ministerial responsibility if a
minister for police for instance had to take responsibility for failed
prosecutions, wouldn't it?"
Mr Ruddock said part of the difficulty in properly identifying people
resulted from Australia's lack of a universal identity system.
The problem was made worse when people themselves - perhaps because of
their diminished mental capacity - did not properly identify themselves to
authorities in the first place, he said.
"What we have ascertained is that in a very small number of cases where
people have been disguising their own identity or refusing to identify
themselves properly the task has been more difficult," he said.
Asked whether Mr T should get compensation, Mr Ruddock sad he didn't give
legal advice in regard to such matters.
"I notice one of the concepts that's never spoken of by those who often
assert that there ought to be claims of compensation is contributory
negligence," he said.
And Mr Ruddock said he would want to know more about the case before
deciding whether or not he should offer Mr T an apology.
"A lot of the reports today focus only on the difficulty of identification
and the fact that he was held and don't deal with the issue about the
degree to which there is his personal responsibility," he said.
"That may of course be limited by his diminished capacity."
Federal Labor's immigration spokesman Tony Burke said Mr T should be given
a substantial amount of compensation, although "no level of financial
compensation will undo the harm that has been done to mentally ill
Australians".
Mr Ruddock should also take responsibility for creating the culture within
the immigration department that led to people with mental illness being
wrongfully detained, Mr Burke said.
"Philip Ruddock should take responsibility, should apologise and if he had
the level of decency that we would like cabinet ministers to have, then
you'd find he'd no longer be seated at the cabinet table and he would
resign," he said.
AAP
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/ruddock-illegal-detention-is-not-my-fault/2006/03/23/1143083879241.html
============================
8. Hanging on by the seat of his pants
============================
Sydney Morning Herald
March 25, 2006
Petro Georgiou still has plenty of fight left in him - and some
heavy-hitters backing him, writes Louise Dodson.
THE battle in the Liberals to unseat the leading moderate MP Petro Georgiou
is about far more than a tussle over who represents one of the party's
blue-ribbon seats. It is about the direction of the party, whether it can
continue to accommodate internal criticism and whether it remains the
"broad church" John Howard says is one of its strengths.
Some in the party see it as a move by the Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Alexander Downer, to boost his support to position him for the leadership
or deputy leadership when Howard departs, either this term or next.
Downer is backing Georgiou's main challenger, Josh Frydenberg, a former
adviser who also worked for the Prime Minister. Another former Downer
staffer, Brad Haynes, is lining up to challenge the moderate Judi Moylan in
her West Australian seat of Pearce.
The bitter internal stoush shows the Liberal Party is not immune to the
type of preselection squabbles that have plagued Labor and caused Kim
Beazley such grief. But unlike Beazley, who refused to support the former
Labor leader Simon Crean when he was under threat in his seat, Howard has
made it clear that Georgiou, as the sitting member, has his backing. Peter
Costello has also publicly supported him.
Georgiou and Frydenberg have attracted high-powered support, a sign this is
no ordinary preselection battle.
The former NSW premier John Fahey, the former Victorian premier Jeff
Kennett, Costello and Malcolm Fraser have all come out in support of
Georgiou, while previous Howard ministers Richard Alston and Michael
Wooldridge and business figure Hugh Morgan are supporting Frydenberg.
Georgiou is no ordinary backbencher and his affluent electorate of Kooyong
in Melbourne is no ordinary seat. One of the jewels in the Liberal crown,
it was once held by party founder and Australia's longest-serving prime
minister Robert Menzies. The flamboyant Andrew Peacock, dubbed "the colt
from Kooyong", first represented the seat as a 27-year-old and later took
turns with Howard to become Opposition leader.
Georgiou is one of the few in the Government with connections going back to
the former prime minister Fraser, for whom he worked as senior adviser. He
later worked for Peacock when he was Opposition leader and headed the
Victorian party machine.
As a leading light of the diminishing band of "small l" Liberals in the
Government, Georgiou has challenged Howard over policies on refugees and
police powers to counterterrorism.
Georgiou's fights have earned him criticism in some party quarters, support
in others, praise in the community and have led to some smoothing of the
harder edges of government policy.
For instance, the Government agreed to modify restrictive sedition
provisions contained in counterterrorism legislation and softened tough new
police powers to detain terrorist suspects.
Last year, after Georgiou and other moderates, including the Sydney MP
Bruce Baird and Moylan, raised objections to the system of detaining asylum
seekers, Howard announced a policy shift that ended the detention of
children and improved conditions for those on temporary visas.
To his supporters, Georgiou's contribution in challenging the Government
and forcing policy changes makes him one of the "heroes of the party".
"There is only one Petro Georgiou," Baird says. "He is unique, he can be a
grumpy old man at times, but he is the conscience of the party. He is the
heart and soul of the party, he is head and shoulders over everyone else
when he challenges the Prime Minister - he is prepared to lay everything on
the line, he is one of the heroes of the party."
Baird describes Frydenberg as "a nice guy". "I just wish he had found
another seat," he says.
Fahey says retaining people who have a social conscience like Georgiou are
essential to the party remaining a broad church. Kennett describes
Georgiou's role as important for keeping the Liberal Party a vibrant
political force that's prepared to make changes and keep in touch with
voter concerns.
"He is a very good parliamentarian … he challenges what we're doing, which
often leads to changes in policy. His actions prevent the Government from
becoming irrelevant," Kennett says. "This is the explanation behind the
continuing declines of the National Party and the near death of the
Australian Democrats. Petro is an important part of that aspect.
"A political party that does not represent a broad church of views cannot
call itself fully representative and finds itself out of step."
Georgiou's influence extends well beyond what one would expect of a humble
backbencher, because he is prepared to challenge government policy and
because he has superior political skills, Kennett says. "He will never be a
cabinet minister, but that doesn't mean to say a backbencher cannot be very
influential … he has a superior intellect and is very effective."
Frydenberg should have taken on a Labor MP rather than an effective sitting
member, Kennett says.
Georgiou supporters are convinced the challenge from Frydenberg is backed
by a group of right wingers in his electorate who have never accepted him.
"He smokes, he swears, he challenges the PM and he champions refugees. The
refugee campaign last year sent them ballistic and they vowed revenge," one
of his supporters says.
The challenge to Georgiou isn't new. He won challenges before the 2001 and
2004 elections. Frydenberg is not the only one to challenge him this time;
Alistair Armstrong is also standing.
Frydenberg backers, who believe he has a promising future, argue that the
seat is such a prize it should go to an MP who could expect a career as a
cabinet minister or party leader, whereas Georgiou will remain a
backbencher for the remainder of his career.
Dr Kevin Donnelly, a former vice-chairman of the Kooyong Electorate
Council, says it is time for new blood. In a newspaper column, he attacked
Georgiou's support for multiculturalism when he was an adviser to Fraser
and said during his 10 years representing Kooyong membership was static and
fund-raising poor. He pointed out that at the last election Georgiou
suffered a swing against him of 1.36 per cent.
But a letter from the party's state director, Julian Sheezel, to Georgiou
last Saturday said a review of records showed "campaign funds held in the
Kooyong area finance account are healthy for this stage of the election
cycle". It revealed Kooyong provided finance to several marginal
electorates for the 2004 election and that party membership was the second
highest of any federal electorate in Victoria.
The swing against him was less than those suffered in safe seats held by
Tony Abbott, who experienced a swing of 2.18 per cent, and Brendan Nelson
who suffered a swing of 2.65 per cent.
Supporters argue new blood should not be at the expense of experienced MPs
like Georgiou who can take on bureaucrats. "His use-by date has definitely
not come yet," Kennett says. Frydenberg should have challenged the former
Labor leader Simon Crean rather than an effective MP. "That would have
earned his stripes as an up-and-comer in the party."
The battle will be decided in about four weeks, with Liberal Party branches
in the seat allowed 60 per cent of the vote and the state machine 40 per cent.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/hanging-on-by-the-seat-of-his-pants/2006/03/24/1143083999603.html
==============================
9. Immigration questions African athletes
==============================
ABC ONLINE NEWS
Monday, March 27, 2006. 4:15pm (AEDT)
Immigration officials are interviewing six Sierra Leone athletes found at a
house in northern Sydney early this morning.
The group was found in the Harbord area this morning after a tip-off.
A further eight members of Sierra Leone's Commonwealth Games team are still
listed as missing.
Those eight are now in breach of their special purpose visas after their
athlete accreditations were withdrawn at midnight last night.
Team officials asked yesterday for their accreditation to be withdrawn.
Police are also searching for nine Cameroon athletes, a Tanzanian boxer and
a Bangladeshi runner
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1601887.htm
=====================================
10. Indonesia attacks senators over Papua stance
=====================================
ABC ONLINE NEWS
Monday, March 27, 2006. 4:24pm (AEDT)
Indonesia has accused Greens Senator Bob Brown and Democrats Senator
Natasha Stott Despoja of worsening relations between Indonesia and
Australia by making false statements about Papua.
Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Desra Percaya said statements by
Senator Stott Despoja, reported in Australian newspapers, that 16
university students had been killed by Indonesian police in the province of
Papua, were totally groundless and were not helpful to bilateral relations.
He also criticised Senator Brown's call for the issue of Papua to be
brought before the United Nations.
The spokesman said instead of making baseless statements, the two senators
should provide facts.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1601907.htm
==============================
11. African athletes granted bridging visas
==============================
ABC ONLINE NEWS
Monday, March 27, 2006. 4:55pm (AEDT)
The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs has granted
bridging visas to six Sierra Leonean athletes found this morning in
Sydney's north.
The bridging visas will allow the athletes time to apply for long term visas.
Another eight Sierra Leoneans are still listed as missing and are in breach
of their special purposes visas after their athlete accreditations,
provided for the Commonwealth Games, were withdrawn yesterday.
Team officials asked yesterday for their accreditation to be withdrawn.
Police are also searching for nine Cameroon athletes, a Tanzanian boxer and
a Bangladeshi runner.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1601887.htm
=============
12. Migrant sham
=============
The Daily Telegraph
EXCLUSIVE
by LUKE McILVEEN
March 16, 2006
AN African refugee who offered drugs to two Sydney schoolgirls in exchange
for sex is still walking free because the Immigration Department says it is
powerless to deport him.
In a fresh debacle for Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone, Ally Abdallah
Salum, 45, will not be sent back to Tanzania despite being convicted of
inciting a person under 16 to commit an indecent act.
The bungle has emerged a week after it was revealed that African refugees
with deadly foreign diseases such as tuberculosis were being allowed to
settle in Sydney without medical checks.
Also last week, Senator Vanstone let criminal Robert Jovicic return to
Australia from Serbia, giving him a chance to sue taxpayers over his
deportation.
Salum -- who speaks fluent Swahili -- fled his poverty-stricken home
country as a "political refugee" and was granted a temporary visa in
January 2001.
He is now fighting the Immigration Department in the Federal Court for the
right to be granted a permanent visa. After making a new home in Sydney,
Salum tried to lure two teenage girls -- 14 and 15 -- as they chatted to
him through the playground fence at their girls' school in Ashfield.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal Salum offered the girls, whose names have
been suppressed, marijuana and ecstasy pills if they agreed to have sex
with him. The girls had skipped a class and were in a remote part of the
school playground when Salum approached them through the fence on September
8, 2004.
He gave one of the girls cigarettes and asked for names and phone numbers
before threatening to rape her.
Police happened to be driving past the school and arrested Salum after the
distressed girls raised the alarm.
Instead of being sent home on the next plane, Salum was slapped on the
wrist with 250 hours community service on February 26.
He still lives in the city and is free, provided his community work is
completed.
Salum was convicted in Downing Centre Local Court in January of inciting a
person under the age of 16 to commit an act of indecency and harassing and
intimidating a school student.
The Daily Telegraph approached the Immigration Department about Salum's
case, but was told he was not being considered for deportation.
"The person remains lawfully in the community and has not been considered
for visa cancellation under the provisions of the Migration Act," it said
in a statement.
"The Migration Act provides discretionary power to cancel the visa on the
grounds that the visa holder does not pass the criteria test," the
Department said. "The decision to cancel a visa is not taken lightly."
A department spokesman explained Salum could not be deported under
Commonwealth law because he was not given a minimum jail term of 12 months.
The Minister has the power to deport Salum on grounds of bad character, but
it could be years until Salum's case in the Federal Court is resolved.
Ray Kaijage from the Tanzanian Community Association of NSW said his
members -- who did not know Salum -- were appalled by the case.
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,18477918-5001022,00.html
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-|| This is the Project SafeCom Newsletter - published since 2001
-|| as the 'Project SafeCom Daily News and Updates'.
-||
-|| To subscribe to this Newsletter or to manage your subscription, visit
-|| http://www.safecom.org.au/newsletter-subscribe.htm
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-||+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-||- Project SafeCom info
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Old (and hopefully current) online archives of our News & Updates:
http://lists.topica.com/lists/safecom/read
Current (and new) archives of our News and Updates:
http://lists.perthimc.asn.au/pipermail/safecom-announce/
To subscribe to this Newsletter or to manage your subscription, visit
http://www.safecom.org.au/newsletter-subscribe.htm
Project SafeCom has operated a "virtually full-time" operations office
since TAMPA. At Project SafeCom, an Incorporated Association in Western
Australia, we exist from donations, the sale of some items via our website,
and from memberships. You can make a donation by transferring funds to our
account at Bendigo Community Bank Kulin, BSB Number 633-000. Account name:
Project SafeCom Inc., account 115643900, or by sending a cheque or money
order to our address below.
P.O. Box 364 - Narrogin WA 6312 - Phone 0417 090 130
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LINKS:
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HOME OF TERROR? - the hub page for our NEW Australian Anti-terrorism
legislation and our "seditious" section:
http://www.safecom.org.au/terror-home.htm
ROYAL COMMISSION Petition: download it, print it, put it out - everywhere
around town: http://www.safecom.org.au/royal-commission.htm
What's New - this page lists all the new additions to the website -
hundreds of pages: http://www.safecom.org.au/whatsnew.htm
Project SafeCom events page: http://www.safecom.org.au/events.htm
The Reading Room: http://www.safecom.org.au/readings.htm
The Project SafeCom shop: http://www.safecom.org.au/products.htm
Our Baxter page: http://www.safecom.org.au/baxter.htm
Project SafeCom's No War position: http://www.safecom.org.au/no-war.htm
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