Asylum seekers' supporters rally in Sydney

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.

The boys, who escaped last month from south Australia’s Woomera detention facility, were returned there to join their mother and sisters last week after Britain refused their bid for asylum.

The boys had been on the run for three weeks since breaking out of the Woomera camp and last week sought refuge at a British consulate in Melbourne but were handed over to Australian police.

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said Baktiari and his family lied to authorities when they applied for asylum, saying they were from Afghanistan. Ruddock said he has evidence they are from Pakistan and not eligible to apply for asylum.

Baktiari said he would travel to Canberra tomorrow to meet Afghanistan’s honorary consul Mahmoud Saikal to try to prove his family is from Afghanistan.

‘‘My heart is broken, my family is broken apart. ... I came here for protection, not detention,’’ said Baktiari, who has been in Australia for 18 months on a temporary refugee visa. ‘‘With the help of the British Government my boys have been handed back to the hellhole of Woomera.’’

He held up colour pictures of his sons Alamdar, 13, and Montazar, 12, at today’s rally and called for the release of his family.

Australia detains all asylum seekers who enter the country illegally until their applications for refugee status are processed which can take three years.