Refugee wants $150,000 in claim over detention

By HELEN TUNNAH

Refugees could lodge compensation claims costing the Government millions of dollars if a court rules they were falsely imprisoned under a tough new immigration policy introduced after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Two organisations representing refugees will argue in the High Court at Auckland from tomorrow that asylum seekers have been wrongly kept in jail or at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre, and that a policy introduced just days after the atrocities in the United States is unlawful.

One refugee, who has name suppression, has filed a $150,000 damages claim for compensation for false imprisonment.

Should the detentions be declared unlawful, it is likely that dozens more compensation claims will be lodged against the Crown.

Under an Immigration Service "operating instruction" introduced on September 19, 132 asylum seekers were detained while their status was considered - 28 are still in detention - and only four people were given permits and released into the community when they arrived here.

Previously, most asylum seekers were released on arrival while their refugee status was considered.

People affected include those arriving here with false or no documentation and those claiming refugee status at the border.

The case is being monitored internationally, with Governments that have introduced tougher detention regimes nervous about legal challenges.

There is also potential for the ruling to apply to the 131 Tampa boat people who arrived here last year.

The two groups who have lodged the claim are the Refugee Council of New Zealand and the Human Rights Foundation of Aotearoa.

They have named the Attorney-General as the defendant on behalf of the Crown, the Immigration Service through the Department of Labour, and the police.

In their statement of claim, the groups argue that the immigration laws are being incorrectly used to detain people. They claim refugees are not being held under the correct provisions of the law and that the new policy breaches the Bill of Rights and New Zealand's obligations under the UN Convention on Refugees.

None of the parties to the action would comment on the case.

But Auckland Refugee Council secretary Bill Smith said the policy appeared to be a kneejerk reaction to September 11.

"Obviously you have to be careful about security. I'm not saying it's entirely foolish.

"But you have to exercise some judgment the other way as well.

"It's a very uncomfortable principle to start detaining all asylum seekers on arrival. That's what Australia started to do and look where it's led them."

The Immigration Service says that of the 132 people held since September 19, 20 have been deported, 25 have refugee status, 58 have been released awaiting a decision, one has absconded and 28 remain in detention.

Feature: Immigration