MELBOURNE — In late April, a massive open air concert is planned in the Treasury Gardens to highlight the plight of 1300 East Timorese asylum seekers facing deportation to Portugal.
Since the invasion of East Timor by Indonesia in 1975, there has been a steady flow of East Timorese seeking refugee status in Australia. Most East Timorese people whose cases were decided before late 1994 were successful in acquiring refugee status. There are some 15,000 East Timorese people permanently settled in Australia, many of whom have acquired permanent residence and Australian citizenship.
During late 1994 and early 1995, approximately 1300 East Timorese arrived in Australia on visitor visas issued through the Australian consulate in Bali. Most of those people applied for refugee status shortly after their arrival.
In late 1994, the Immigration Department announced that all processing of East Timorese refugee cases had been frozen because it was investigating the possibility that East Timorese people had protection in Portugal.
Meanwhile, the Refugee Review Tribunal was conducting hearings of East Timorese cases dating as far back as 1991. The tribunal (which is independent of the government) has made conflicting decisions on whether East Timorese have Portuguese nationality.
The thrust of the Australian government's arguments is that Portuguese citizenship law confers its nationality upon many East Timorese people, and therefore East Timorese, regardless of the strength of their claims, will not be granted refugee status here.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos Horta observes: "This argument, coming from the only government that formally recognises the Indonesian annexation of East Timor as legal, is the height of hypocrisy. Where it suits Australia, East Timor is Indonesian, and when its people seek refuge from the brutal oppression they endure from Indonesia, they are suddenly Portuguese."
Portugal has stated that it does not accept that all East Timorese are Portuguese nationals and is not willing to assess who in Australia is entitled to Portuguese nationality. Most importantly, Portugal has made it clear that it is unwilling to cooperate in any attempt to deport the asylum seekers from Australia to Portugal.
In July 1996, Immigration began processing some East Timorese cases on the basis that they are Portuguese nationals. One of the cases was appealed from the tribunal to the Federal Court. The test case was heard in the Federal Court on September 23 and 24.
No judgment has been handed down yet. A further appeal to the High Court (by either legal aid or the government, depending on the outcome) could follow. If this were to occur, the issue might not be resolved for a further two to three years.
As the appeals crawl through the courts, the asylum seekers are left in a debilitating limbo, facing dire poverty and hardship. On October 1 budget cuts took effect which bar all asylum seekers appealing Immigration's decision s from receiving asylum seekers' assistance.
ASA is a government-funded scheme administered through the Red Cross to provide a nominal income for asylum seekers who have no other means of support whilst awaiting the outcome of their appeal. Already many families have been rendered incomeless.
The East Timorese Asylum Seekers Support Group is asking participants in the April concert to bring bedding, as it will be followed by a rally, including the establishment of a refugee camp blocking the entrance to the Department of Immigration. The group hopes that hundreds of people will join the asylum seekers in a sleep-over.