A well-founded fear?

Louisa 20 November 2008, 05:17PM

The documentary A Well-Founded Fear aired on SBS at 8:30pm last night. The piece explored the consequences for asylum seekers, of Australia neglecting its obligations under The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1951. As a party to the convention Australia must protect people who have a well founded fear of persecution on the basis of religion, race, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion in their country of origin.

Australia has for the past decade had a very strict refugee policy that saw many asylum seekers detained offshore in places like Nauru pending the outcome of their application for asylum. The documentary followed Phil Glendenning the director of the Edmund Rice Centre, as he went in search of asylum seekers from Afghanistan and the Middle East whom Australia had not accepted. So far 250 “returnees” have been tracked down in 22 countries.

In Afghanistan Glendenning talks to a group of Hazara men who spent time in the Nauru detention centre. Of particular heartbreak was the story of Mohammed a former Mujahideen fighter against the pro-Soviet Afghan government. After the Taliban took control of the country he fled and was detained on Nauru and subsequently returned to Afghanistan in 2002. Mohammed returned to Afghanistan after being told by Australian authorities that it was now safe for him to return. Mohammed was confused and upset by his treatment; he couldn’t understand why he was returned to Afghanistan to the mercy of the Taliban who were still so clearly involved in Afghani life. During the documentary Mohammed disappears from his workplace and Glendenning is unable to track him down. At the end of the documentary we discover Mohammed ‘was tortured and brutally killed in the Gazni province in September 2008.’ This news may leave you asking the question what exactly will Australian authorities consider to be A Well-Founded Fear?

Find out more about the documentary.

About the Author

This blog entry was created by Louisa and does not necessarily represent the position or opinion of Amnesty International Australia.

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