Refugee advocates fear time is running out for a refugee to return to his Australian home after he was denied the right to board a flight from Indonesia to Australia because of his visa status.
In what advocates fear may be a repeat of the Hakeem al-Araibi case, which left a refugee wrongly detained in a Thai prison after a series of bureaucratic bungles over his visa status, Amir, a young Iranian refugee on an Australian safe haven visa, has been sent back to Turkey amid the coronavirus crisis.
Amir’s local MP, Peter Khalil, the Labor member for Wills in Victoria, said Amir had been granted permission to leave Australia to visit his mother in Turkey in early February, before cutting his trip short to return home as the Covid-19 pandemic spread across the world.
But after being forced to take a circuitous route because of international travel bans, Amir was not allowed to board his flight in Indonesia, which would have taken him to Australia, because he did not have a permanent visa.
He was sent back to Amsterdam, from where he may be sent on to Turkey, a nation where he has no visa status. His advocates have been working to get the home affairs department to tick off on the final travel exemption he needs to return to Australia, before that happens.
I’ve been watching the case of refugee Amir, from Sth Australia with concern and understand it’s now become an emergency 🚨 He’s lives in Australia on a Safe Haven Enterprise Visa
— Craig Foster (@Craig_Foster) March 29, 2020
Travelled to Turkey 2 mths ago to visit his mum where she lives & also fled their homeland
Ok Peter great, even better, so he’s on the plane, right? That’s what I’m told. There’s a small window to put this right and get him home from Amsterdam. Should never have happened. The kid will be terrified. https://t.co/5n4gSdcfIO
— Craig Foster (@Craig_Foster) March 29, 2020
“The government can fix this now,” Khalil said.
“They need to grant the exemption so Amir can get home to Australia. He has valid Australian travel documents. He needs the exemption to travel. He was forced off his flight from Jakarta to Melbourne and then forced onto a flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam [then Moscow and Istanbul].
“I was in contact with him last night while he was at Jakarta airport after being forced off his flight home to Melbourne and he was very distressed. We are doing everything we can to assist him and hope the government processes his exemption to travel to which he is entitled, being a valid safe haven protection visa holder.”
It is believed home affairs officials are working on a solution.
The head of Australia’s Border Force, Michael Outram, was forced to apologise last year, after a miscommunication between agencies left Al-Araibi stranded in a Bangkok prison, despite having been issued an Australian protection visa in November 2017.
The former Australian footballer, SBS commentator and Amnesty human rights and refugee ambassador Craig Foster was crucial in raising Hakeem’s case internationally, helping to secure his release.
He also tweeted about Amir’s case late on Sunday, in a bid to help raise awareness of his plight.
Guardian Australia has contacted Home Affairs for comment.
