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and older brother have been<br />
recognised as refugees by Australia,<br />
his mother granted a five-year visa<br />
in 2016, while his brother, who fled<br />
earlier, has permanent protection.<br />
Shalikhan too was able to prove a<br />
well-founded fear of persecution<br />
in Iran, Australia recognising him<br />
as a refugee in 2016. This means<br />
Australia is legally obliged to<br />
protect him and cannot forcibly<br />
return him to a place of harm.<br />
In 2014, however, as a 17-yearold<br />
minor, he was charged with<br />
two counts of assaulting a public<br />
officer. The offences were resolved<br />
by the Western Australian children’s<br />
court, which issued him a caution<br />
and noted “all criminal matters<br />
are finalised”. While no formal<br />
punishment was ordered, the<br />
incident continues to haunt him, the<br />
Minister taking it into consideration<br />
“on the basis that his violent conduct<br />
… has been proven in court”.<br />
Moved to detention centres around<br />
Australia, his education and social<br />
development were disrupted. Having<br />
only completed Year 10, he has not<br />
been allowed access to education<br />
since turning 18 – despite repeated<br />
requests – and has languished in<br />
Villawood since mid-2016.<br />
People with disabilities are<br />
particularly vulnerable in detention,<br />
Battisson said. “Although no one<br />
should be administratively detained<br />
for seeking asylum, it is particularly<br />
unsuitable, and cannot be made<br />
suitable, for those with disabilities.”<br />
Shalikhan has accepted his earlier<br />
behavioural issues. “I don’t want to<br />
be an old man still in detention …<br />
I have said things whilst here but<br />
this was all due to the frustration<br />
of being in detention. I wouldn’t<br />
do any of the things talked about<br />
… I want to live in Australia. I will<br />
not be a threat to the Australian<br />
community. I am a good person.”<br />
Last year, Battisson submitted a<br />
complaint on his behalf to the<br />
UN Working Group on Arbitrary<br />
Detention (WGAD). In December<br />
2018, it released its opinion,<br />
determining the Australian<br />
government was in breach of five<br />
articles of the Universal Declaration<br />
of Human Rights and four articles<br />
of the International Covenant<br />
of Civil and Political Rights. It<br />
recommended he be immediately<br />
released and accorded an enforceable<br />
right to compensation. It also<br />
called for an investigation into<br />
the circumstances surrounding<br />
his deprivation of liberty and<br />
for appropriate measures to be<br />
taken against those responsible<br />
for violating his rights.<br />
In its third report on his<br />
incarceration, tabled in October<br />
2017, the Commonwealth<br />
Ombudsman noted “psychiatrists<br />
have continuously advised that as a<br />
young and vulnerable person, [his]<br />
ongoing detention is detrimental to<br />
his mental health and recommended<br />
… he be released … with mental<br />
health support and enrolment<br />
in an educational course”.<br />
While the Minister accepted that<br />
should he be released, Shalikhan<br />
would have the support of his<br />
family and the NSW Health<br />
Refugee Service, the government<br />
maintains this is still outweighed<br />
by the risk he “would engage in<br />
criminal conduct in Australia”.<br />
However, while most<br />
criminals serve a fixed<br />
term, when even<br />
murderers sentenced to<br />
life imprisonment are<br />
often eventually released,<br />
our government is<br />
seemingly still prepared<br />
to condemn stateless<br />
refugees to indefinite<br />
detention.<br />
SUSTAINING THE ENVIRONMENT<br />
& HEALING THE WORLD<br />
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO<br />
HELP ASYLUM SEEKERS<br />
AND REFUGEES?<br />
Support Emanuel Synagogue's<br />
work for refugees, email<br />
socialjustice@emanuel.org.au<br />
For more information about<br />
Supporting Asylum Seekers<br />
Sydney (SASS) please see https://<br />
sydneyasylumseekersupporters.<br />
wordpress.com All welcome! Those<br />
interested in visiting Villawood<br />
Immigration Detention Centre<br />
please contact Anna Buch:<br />
anna-buch@outlook.com<br />
Many organisations supporting<br />
asylum seekers and refugees have<br />
volunteer programs, including<br />
Settlement Services International<br />
(SSI): https://www.ssi.org.au/<br />
support-ssi/volunteer; Asylum<br />
Seekers Centre Newtown:<br />
https://asylumseekerscentre.<br />
org.au and Australian Refugee<br />
Volunteers: https://www.<br />
arvolunteers.org/volunteer<br />
Other ideas include:<br />
• Visit refugee-run restaurant,<br />
Four Brave Women, in Summer<br />
Hill and Parliament on King<br />
Cafe in Newtown, which also<br />
offers social enterprise catering;<br />
• Buy fashion through The<br />
Social Outfit, which provides<br />
employment and training<br />
to people from refugee and<br />
new migrant communities;<br />
• Donate musical instruments<br />
to community group<br />
Music for Refugees;<br />
• Host dinner for refugees<br />
in your home via The<br />
Welcome Dinner Project;<br />
• Volunteer to teach English<br />
to Sudanese refugees: see<br />
http://www.sailprogram.org.<br />
au/site/join/volunteer/;<br />
• Join an organised "walk<br />
and talk" with refugees in<br />
different areas of Sydney<br />
via One Step Walks: https://<br />
www.onestepwalks.org<br />
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