The father of two Afghan boys who walked into the British consulate in Melbourne and asked for asylum has admitted he has not lived in his homeland for “many years”, it was reported today.

An Australian judge today said he was alarmed at a report on the mental health of two boys who sought asylum at a British consulate after fleeing an Outback detention centre for illegal immigrants.

REVOLUTIONARY tourist, left-wing crustie, noble-minded philantropist or adrenalin junkie, whatever way you look at it, there’s a certain breed of Irishman making his name abroad.

An Irishman who was jailed for his part in the escape of refugees from an Australian detention centre last month was today released from prison.

AN international team developing a new type of supersonic jet engine that has the potential to slash air travel times said yesterday that a test flight looked like a success.

A 22-year-old Cork man, who pleaded guilty to helping two Afghan refugees flee the controversial Woomera detention centre in Australia is due to be sentenced tomorrow.

About 300 supporters of asylum seekers attended a rally in Sydney today attended by Ali Baktiari, the father of two boys at the centre of Australia’s latest detention row.

IN a taped interview, one of the two brothers who unsuccessfully sought asylum at the British consulate in Melbourne yesterday described how he tried to commit suicide inside the Woomera detention camp.

DURING the week, the first annual report of the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner was published, and it showed that 6,631 applications for refugee status were rejected last year.

A 22-year-old Irishman could face up to 10 years in jail for helping refugees escape from an Australian detention centre.

An Irish backpacker has been charged with assisting two young Afghan boys to escape from a controversial Australian outback refugee camp.

A Cork man is in custody in Australia charged with helping two Afghan children to escape from the remote Woomera refugee camp, 600 miles from Melbourne.

Britain today rejected the applications of two young boys who sought asylum at the British Consulate in the southern Australian city of Melbourne, a lawyer said.

Australian police said today they had called off the search for ten asylum seekers who escaped from an immigrant detention centre.

Police in Australia hunting illegal immigrants who escaped in a mass break-out from a remote desert detention centre caught 12 more of them, leaving 12 still on the run, a spokesman said today.

A police investigation is underway in Australia following the abscondment of over 30 illegal immigrants from a refugee detention centre.

Riot police on horseback clashed with protesters today as demonstrations continued outside a remote Australian detention centre for refugees.

Around a dozen asylum seekers, including a child, have escaped from a detention center in the Australian Outback.

Dozens of Iraqi asylum seekers at the infamous Womera detention centre in the Australian Outback have restarted a hunger strike in protest at the Government’s slow pace of processing their cases.

The Australian government says it will allow a United Nations envoy to inspect its most controversial detention centre.

Conditions at an Australian detention centre for asylum seekers broke international conventions governing the welfare of children, the country’s human rights watchdog said today.

United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson has requested permission to inspect the notorious Woomera detention centre for asylum-seekers in Australia.

A hunger strike at an illegal immigrant detention centre in the Australian Outback ended today, Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock announced.

The Australian government has given in to demands from nine teenage refugees who had threatened suicide unless they were removed from a detention centre in the middle of the hot, dry, Australian bush.

The Australian government has given in to demands from nine asylum seeking teenagers who threatened to commit suicide by throwing themselves on razor wire.

Eleven children at a detention camp for refugees seeking asylum in Australia have vowed to commit suicide unless they are released.

A refugee at Australia’s controversial Woomera detention centre has been injured in a rooftop protest.

Officials in Australia today said they had treated four asylum seekers at an Outback detention centre, including a child, after they tried to harm themselves in what is believed to be a group suicide attempt.

A protest in an Australian refugee detention centre escalated today with asylum seekers poisoning themselves and a hunger strike spreading to a second internment facility.

Australia today threatened to remove the children of some asylum seekers after youngsters involved in a hunger strike had their lips sewn together.

Asylum seekers at a remote Australian detention centre held violent protests again last night, damaging five more buildings after rioters set fire to 15 structures earlier this week.

A group of asylum seekers who tunnelled out of a remote detention centre in the desert of southern Australia could fall prey to the harsh Outback climate, a local politician warned today.