Asylum seeker first to test court bail ruling

By HELEN TUNNAH

After 10 weeks in detention, a Sri Lankan fisherman has become the first asylum-seeker released after a landmark High Court ruling that refugee claimants are entitled to bail.

The fisherman, who cannot be named, is staying with a family in Auckland and will report to police and the courts weekly until authorities decide if he is a genuine refugee.

Brushing aside tears the man, in his late 20s, said he was relieved to be out of the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre.

"I was very happy. First I thank my God. Second I thank my lawyer," he said yesterday. "If they ask me to go to police station, I go. If they ask me to go to court, I go."

He said he fled Sri Lanka because his life was in danger, but could not say any more because his refugee claim had not been heard.

The fisherman arrived at Auckland Airport on March 30 and claimed refugee status. He was arrested, spent a night in police cells and was then taken to Mangere.

After 16 days he was allowed to apply for day leave. Each Sunday the man, a Christian, went to church and at other times went out for a meal. He said he found it odd that people were detained as a security risk, yet were allowed unsupervised day leave.

He was granted conditional release after a hearing at the Manukau District Court on Friday.

The fisherman is one of more than 200 refugee claimants covered by a High Court challenge to the Government's new policy of detaining in jail or at Mangere almost everyone who arrives here seeking asylum.

The new regime was introduced after the terrorist attacks of September 11 and amid the controversy over the Tampa boatpeople.

In an interim ruling, Justice David Baragwanath said the policy was virtually mandatory detention and breached the United Nations Convention on Refugees.

He has not ruled on whether the detentions were unlawful, but has said that under the law refugees can apply for bail.

Those challenging the policy, the Refugee Council of New Zealand and the Human Rights Foundation, have said there are provisions in the Immigration Act under which a person considered a security threat can be held.

But they say authorities are improperly using another part of the law to detain people, which does not allow bail and under which the standard for proving a person is a threat is much lower.

The detention of asylum-seekers will be debated in Parliament this week as the Government tries to pass the Transnational Organised Crime Bill, which introduces harsh penalties against people-smugglers.

Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel said the new legislation would allow refugee claimants to be released.

Since September 11 there had been increased scrutiny of border security by the Government, she said.

"That's what the people of New Zealand expect from the Government."

But Green MP Keith Locke said the bill would entrench the Australian approach of routinely detaining asylum-seekers, "sugar-coating it with a provision for conditional release".

He said the Government should not make any law changes until Justice Baragwanath released his final decision.

Rights foundation spokesman Peter Hosking said the fact that the Crown did not oppose bail in the fisherman's case was worrying.

"When they were required to justify the detention they can't do it."


Feature: Immigration