Minister checks asylum seekers

By JOSIE CLARKE

Immigration Minister Tuariki Delamere paid a private visit to fasting asylum-seekers at Mt Eden Prison yesterday to check on their condition for himself.

Mr Delamere did not speak to the prisoners during the unannounced visit.

He said afterwards that he wanted to see the men for himself before responding to reports about their condition.

The visit came as up to 16 asylum-seekers moved into their 26th day of a fast at the prison.

He said medical staff at the prison told him the men's health had improved a lot since last week, although they were apparently still fasting.

The men's cell block was separate from other prisoners and was clean and comfortable.

They had medical care, three meals a day whether they ate or not, access to television, and were free to move around their block.

He said officials using the Refugee Status Appeal process had tried to hear the men's applications, but they were being stalled by the men's lawyers.

"To put it politely, the lawyers are most unhelpful and are not acting in the interests of those being detained.

"We wish it wasn't like this, but my gut reaction is that they are being used by people on the outside who have a different agenda."

Meanwhile, the men's fate remained unknown this morning as a High Court hearing on their case moved into its second day.

The hearing was supposed to last one day on Friday but was postponed until yesterday after Justice Fisher told the lawyers to come back with a better case.

Yesterday, lawyer Rodney Hooker said the Immigration Service manual instructed that people applying for refugee status normally be granted temporary permits.

But the service had made an exception in this case.

The asylum-seekers had a legitimate expectation that they should receive permits.

He argued that the service should have followed the manual, but if it introduced fresh criteria it should have provided notice beforehand and the opportunity for response.

He said the new criteria were issued by a local branch manager without being sanctioned by the Minister of Immigration.

Michael Hodgen, acting for the Minister of Immigration, said that at best the men could have hoped that permits would be issued to them considering they arrived without documentation.

He said there was room for discretion within the guidelines, and no person was entitled to a permit.