An example of Australian navy interdiction of refugees #SAR

Submission 100 - Nauru Senate Inquiry:


... I was asked to assist in processing 150 Tamil asylum seekers into the RPC 3. These Tamil asylum seekers were transferred during the night from Australia with no knowledge after being held at sea for an extensive period of time.

The asylum seekers spoke of being roughly handled by staff in Australia, pushed onto planes and sent to Nauru without their knowledge.

Immigration in Australia had attempted to separate families onto planes and this caused upset as they didn’t know where they would be going.

Some Men arrived to RPC1 with no shirts or shoes on, women had no bras on and were wearing oversized clothing and some children had no pants and no underwear on.

When asked what had happened the asylum seekers stated they were in the middle of doing their washing after being held on the boat for so long. Whilst they were doing washing they were forced onto the plane and all their belongings were left behind.

Men stated that their shirts were ripped off their backs and women’s bras were broken when they were man handled to get onto the plane to Nauru. They stated they were scared as they didn’t know where they were going and Australian staff were separating families.

They spoke of trauma from being on the boat where the Australian Navy separated the men women and children, splitting families up. Children were sick on the boat and medical care wasn’t provided.

Only allowed one hour outside their room on the boat per day.

Items being destroyed by Australian Navy

I worked with a family from boat id starting with SGN who stated that all their possessions were destroyed by the Australian Navy on the water. They were transferred to a the Navy boat and were told to leave their belongings behind and they would be transferred later.

The family discussed that once everyone was transferred to the Navy boat the Navy lit the boat with all their belongings on fire.

The family discussed their sadness watching all their life belongings sink to the bottom of the ocean. These belongings included money, passports, photos and clothing.

...


http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Regional_processing_Nauru/Regional_processing_Nauru/Submissions



http://www.sbs.com.au/news/storystream/asylum-seekers-not-illegally-detained-sea-high-court


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