KEY POINTS:
Refugee claimants seeking asylum in New Zealand are now just as likely to be held in jail as in the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre.
The Labour Department says 23 people claiming refugee status were being held in jail on October 17, compared with 22 at the low-security Mangere centre.
The figures, supplied in response to a Herald request under the Official Information Act, have been condemned by refugee lobby groups who say some asylum seekers have been beaten and abused by other prisoners and guards.
The Herald asked for the data on October 10 when Global Peace and Justice Auckland protested about an Iranian Christian chef, Hossein (Thomas) Yadegary, who has been held in Auckland Central Remand Prison for two years since his application for refugee status was rejected.
He cannot be deported because he refuses to sign travel documents and says that Muslims who convert to Christianity face a potential death penalty in Iran.
Yadegary's lawyer, Isabel Chorao, plans to apply to the High Court next week for a writ of habeas corpus declaring that Yadegary should not be detained indefinitely.
The Labour Department data shows that on October 17:
* 45 people who had claimed refugee status were being held in custody - 23 in jail and 22 at Mangere.
* 18 of the 45 were waiting for initial decisions from the department.
* 11 had been rejected by the department and were waiting for decisions from the Refugee Status Appeals Authority.
* 13 had lodged at least one appeal to the Associate Immigration Minister, currently Clayton Cosgrove.
* Five of those held in jail lodged refugee claims only after being served with a removal order, and were detained pending a decision on their claim.
* Seven had been through all appeals up to the associate minister and had been rejected every time, but required travel documents to leave the country. Five of these were "refusing to co-operate with Department of Labour staff in obtaining a travel document".
Auckland Refugee Council executive officer Elizabeth Walker said she was surprised the figures were so high.
Refugee Council of New Zealand vice-president Neville Kay said he was preparing a report for the Government arguing that refugee claimants should not be held with criminals in jails.
The council's secretary, lawyer Heval Hylan, said clients had told him they had been subjected to beatings and verbal abuse from both prisoners and prison officers.
"They hate them. They can be almost sadistic in some cases," he said. "It's not extreme. I'm not talking about Turkey or Thailand, but the emotional impact is quite considerable."
Labour Department spokeswoman Dionne Barton said the department carried out a risk profile of failed asylum seekers to establish if they were likely to flee or commit crimes, or if their identity could not be confirmed.
"Where they are housed while they await their appeal is dependent on our assessment of their risk profile."
