First Forced Deportation of Afghan Asylum-seeker from Australia Delayed

The Australian Government’s decision to force the deportation of a failed Afghan asylum-seeker for the first time has been temporarily stopped by Australian courts.

Ismail Mirza Jan, 26 years old, fled Afghanistan as a teenager in 2001, three years after his father was killed by the Taliban. He reportedly travelled to Pakistan, Iran and Greece before applying for asylum in Britain. His application was rejected in Britain and then in Ireland, but he was able to live temporarily in Ireland on humanitarian grounds. He arrived in Australia in February 2010 using a false Turkish passport.

He is currently in maximum security at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney after his refugee application was rejected. His application was also rejected by the Refugee Review Tribunal and Australian courts.

Mr Mirza will be charged $2,000 to be flown to Afghanistan and another $30,000 for Australian officials who will need to accompany him.

The Australian Government ordered his removal to Kabul on 15 November 2011. This would have been the first time an Afghan asylum-seeker has been sent home against their wishes because of a deal to return Afghans between Australia, Afghanistan and the UN Refugee Agency. The agreement between them was signed in January 2011. Australia says the agreement allows Australia to force the deportation of Afghans who do not qualify for refugee status and protection.

On Wednesday 16 November lawyers for Mr Mirza applied to the Australian Federal Court to stop his deportation, planned for Saturday 19 November. His lawyer argued that deporting Mr Mirza would go against the Migration Act. His lawyer also says that his client was denied justice because the Government never informed him of the reasons for rejecting his refugee application.

The Court issued a temporary order to stop his forced removal to Kabul until his case can be heard. A refugee activist said the case would probably not be heard until next year.

It is believed that travel documents issued by the Afghan government will expire at the end of January. Documents shown at Court showed that the Afghan government has already approved the deportation.

There are currently 1,246 Afghans in detention in Australia. If this deportation goes ahead, it is likely that more Afghans will be forced to return to Afghanistan if found not to be genuine refugees.