Australia to re-examine Afghan refugee scandal

Australia’s highest court has granted an urgent hearing to a civil rights lawyer who has accused the government of illegally turning away hundreds of asylum seekers rescued from a sinking Indonesian boat in August.

In September, a federal court judge ruled that the government had acted illegally when it refused entry to 433 mostly Afghan asylum seekers, but that ruling was overturned after the Government mounted an appeal.

The government argued that because the Afghans never set foot on Australian soil, they had not triggered their asylum rights under Australian law.

Prime Minister John Howard’s decision to refuse entry to the asylum seekers sparked widespread criticism throughout the world, but it boosted the Government’s popularity at home.

The 433 asylum seekers were rescued by the Norwegian-registered Tampa, which tried to bring them to Christmas Island, a remote Australian territory. However, the Australian military boarded the Tampa and transferred its human cargo to a navy troop ship.

They were then transported to the impoverished Pacific island of Nauru, where international immigration officials are processing their claims.

Civil rights lawyer Eric Vardarlis has now gone to the High Court in an attempt to have the Federal Court ruling overturned.

He said that without an urgent hearing, it could take up to nine months for his case to be heard. Vardarlis and other lawyers who assisted his case have been doing the work pro bono, or free of charge.

The government has threatened to apply for the burden of costs to be placed on Vardarlis if he loses his appeal.