Message from a mother in Lombok, Indonesia, where the husbands and fathers have been taken 400 kilometres away to a prison, to force these families to agree "voluntarily" to go back to Afghhanistan.

"As you know that it has been more than 1 month the men have been taken to quarantine (prison).

"We have so many problems and my children miss their father and want their father.

"I don’t know what to do. When they wake up from sleep at night, they cry and call their father.

"I wonder what to do. It is still not clear about how long this situation will be."

We have about five weeks before they are rounded up and transported back to a country in the midst of a violent and gut-wrenching war.

They did what Howard and Ruddock demanded; they stood and waited in the queue, for six long years.

Please ask our new government to show compassion and respect as they consider the future for these people.

Pamela Curr
January 2008

The previous Australian government paid the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) to shelter and provide a small monthly stipend for food to these people to keep them there. Many of us have supported them over these years and written to the previous government asking them to reunite the people with their families in Australia.

Now the crunch has come...

In October 2007 before the Australian election, Afghan embassy officials told the people that “Australia does not want to pay IOM for you anymore, and Indonesia cannot, so you must go back.”

We contacted UNHCR and pointed out that as the Afghan borders were closed to returns for winter, this was not possible until March 2008 when UNHCR would open the borders again.

'Voluntary' returns

On 14 December 2007 the ASRC legal team were interviewing a family in order to lodge a Humanitarian Off-shore visa for them. When we returned after lunch to resume, only the women were left, distressed and weeping. Indonesia police had come and taken nine men out of the hostel and removed them. We later found they were flown 400 kilometres away to Makassar Island Quarantine prison, where they have been held for the past six weeks. The purpose of separating the wives, sisters and children from husbands, brothers and fathers is to force them to sign to 'voluntarily' return to Afghanistan.

We know the incoming government has much to deal with in immigration. However, we are concerned that time is running out while their decision making process is underway. We know there is hope that the new government will act quickly and humanely, unlike the previous government.

This urgent call has been precipitated in the first instance [by the ASRC] for our clients who have a strong case and who have been punished by forcible separation in order to get their acquiesence to agreeing to a situation which is not in their best interests. We also support a call for the 31 other people who are being treated in this appalling way.

This is not a big problem.

We are talking about 40 people who have family and connections in Australia.

We owe these people, having warehoused them for six years.

Lastly and most importantly Afghanistan is not safe. Australia sends its soldiers armed – how can we send these people who will have no chance to survive?

How you can help:

Please write to Senator Chris Evans and ask him to consider this situation with care, to give these people a chance to reunite with their family and to live their lives in safety in Australia. please remind that the hopes of the Australian people for a more compassionate and just Australia rest in this decision.
We need hundreds of letters to raise the profile of these people.

Senator the Hon. Christopher Evans
Senator for Western Australia
Parliament Contact:
Phone: (02) 6277 7860
Fax: (02) 6273 4144

or click here for form http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/senators/homepages/contact.asp?id=AX5

Electorate Office:
48 Ventnor Avenue
West Perth WA 6005

PO Box 1322
West Perth WA 6872

Phone: (08) 9481 4844
Fax: (08) 9481 4244
Toll Free : 1300 655 388

Some links to current Afghanistan situation:
http://www.rand.org/hot_topics/afghanistan.html
http://dss.un.org

Pamela Curr