Judge 'alarmed' at asylum boys mental state
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.
Family Court Justice Rodney Burr was speaking at a hearing in Adelaide into the brothers’ application to be freed from the Woomera detention camp, where they were returned after diplomats at the British consulate in Melbourne refused to grant them asylum.
The boys, aged 12 and 13, took part in a mass break-out in June from Woomera, one of five detention centres where hundreds of mostly Middle Eastern boat people are being held.
They walked into the consulate last month seeking to be reunited with their father, who is living in Sydney on a temporary visa.
Burr said he could not immediately rule on their application because Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock has argued that the court has no jurisdiction.
But after reading a psychological assessment of the boys, Alamdar and Montazar Baktiari, the judge urged a hearing on the question of jurisdiction as soon as possible.
“The factual circumstances of the matter are disturbing,” he said. “On the information before the court it is alarming and I would personally consider the matter an urgent one. I would not want these boys to suffer any more than they need to.”
The family claims to be from Afghanistan, although the Australian government has said it suspects they are from Pakistan.
Ruddock’s lawyer, Geoffrey Kennett, argued that the court did not have the power to determine whether or not the boys should be released.
Burr adjourned the hearing until September 6, but told lawyers he would seek a hearing earlier than that if possible.
