Freedom Yours, Justice Ours

To long suffering friends of ours in KP, Mantra & other APODs, one of your colleague Ali Mirazei (RUF113) had taken an important step in contacting directly to the Immigration Minister to release him from detention [#5]. Ali has also circulated his request to the public, which definitely helps us to identify his situation in some more details. I highly recommend all those friends in KP, Mantra & APODs to directly contacting Immigration Minister and, where possible, put your requests out to the public so that we -- the activists -- may also give support to your individual cause.

Ali Mirazei is rather modest in asking the Minister to provide him a bridging visa, and to become a "lawful non-citizen". He, however, has already been assessed to be refugee in Manus offshore facilities. As such, the Australian Immigration Department ought to grant him the Class XA permanent protection visa. In fact, all those offshore asylum-seekers who were assessed to be bona fide refugees should be entitled to Class XA protection visas. Let's just see what Ali had asked of the Immigration Minister.

Migration Act 1958 of Sections 46A(2), 46B(2)

The Migration Act (1958) has over 500 sub sections [#2]. The Sections 46A and 46B [#3] respectively prohibit the "unauthorised maritime arrivals" and "transitory persons" from making valid visa applications. Such prohibitive condition can be reversed by the "non-compellable personal discretion" of Immigration Minister. Let's try to read s46B:

SECT 46B -- Visa applications by transitory persons.

(1) An application for a visa is not a valid application if it is made by a transitory person who: (a) is in Australia;
(2) If the Minister thinks that it is in the public interest to do so, the Minister may, by written notice given to a transitory person, determine that subsection (1) does not apply to an application by the person for a visa of a class specified in the determination.
(3) The power under subsection (2) may only be exercised by the Minister personally.
(7) The Minister does not have a duty to consider whether to exercise the power under subsection (2) in respect of any transitory person whether the Minister is requested to do so by the transitory person or by any other person, or in any other circumstances.

By asking the minister to grant such bridging visa, it can become the practical ways towards applying for proper protection visas. When we look at the detainees in KP in Brisbane as an example, following three groups found to have emerged [#4]:

(I) Persons never have had put up any refugee application in PNG;
(II) Persons assessed to be "negative" by certain non-statutory entity;
(III) The rest, (majority 80%) persons assessed by non-statutory entity as refugees.

I do think groups (I) and (II) may have to ask the Minister the same request as Ali (RUF113). Those who were already assessed as refugee offshore should also ask the Minister a proper protection visas. When you ask this bridging visa, do give the Minister a reasonable deadline for his reply, so 30 days or 45 days.

Do take extra care if you were to put out your personal detail like Ali Mirazei (RUF113). Putting out personal information on public, in such cases, would have both good side and bad side. In good side, the general public knows your case and, so therefore, they might be able to help.

Morrison Government's Dilemma

The LNP Government, since Prime Minister Tony Abbott, have made critical errors in promoting the offshore refugee processing under Nauruan and PNG laws as a 'valid process'. It is predictable that the entities and procedures that created under Executive Orders alone cannot be constitutionally valid. The refugee status determination at offshore, which carried out by contractors, ostensibly under Naurual/PNG laws, are 'doubly invalid' for following reasons:

(i) The asylum-seekers, when they arrived in 2013, are seeking refugee status from the government of Australia. After asylum-seekers were being forcibly transferred to PNG and Nauru, and under the duress, they have 'consented' to apply asylum in those countries. Eventually, once a person approach Australian government for asylum, no other government should validly examine that refugee application.

(ii) The private contractors which done processing of the refugee applications can only be described, at its best, as the Agents or de facto agents of the Executive Branch of the government. As such, no Statutory (judicial) weight had carried in offshore refugee determination process. Therefore, the offshore refugee processing is constitutionally invalid as it stands.

Because of the LNP governments over the years had made the Australian public to believe that the offshore processing is lawful and valid. Along with political rhetoric, much of tax payers monies had been spent on this offshore processing. The Morrison LNP government has now difficulty admitting these errors and, in many ways, has no political capital to take corrective actions. That is why the government always wants to put the cases of Medevac refugee at the back burner.

Alan Tudge and s. 195A

Friends, for this long considered reasons, I had appeal the (acting) Immigration Minister Alan Tudge to exercise his 'personal and non-compellable' power to grant the protection visas to all offshore asylum-seekers who were entitled [#1]. Your colleague, Ali Mirazei RUF113, is to be one of them.

As you all know, my appeal had been blatantly knocked back by the Minister Tudge. The Immigration Minister, in the stead, was seen putting out lies and spin about those in KP, Mantra and APODs [#4]. These indications are not a good sign: The Morrison LNP Government will cowardly avoid facing your visa issues, instead kept on usual rhetoric, lies and spin. This is very disturbing indeed.

None the less, with RUF113's request, I'll be making efforts to contact the Immigration Minister Alan Tudge again. Be assure that your desire for freedom has been matching up with our desire for justice, so to speak.

Cheers, NetIPR.

[#1] http://www.aus4iccwitness.org/node/88
[#2] http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ma1958118/
[#3] http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ma1958118/s46b.html
[#4] https://www.rac-qld.org/post/the-lies-and-distortions-of-acting-immigrat...
[#5] RUF-113
https://www.facebook.com/eyesonoffshore/posts/2656917811244481