157 Tamil asylum seekers denied access to lawyers

The 157 Tamil asylum seekers brought to Curtin detention centre by the Australian government have been denied access to legal advice, sparking concerns they will face interrogation from Indian consular officials before they can speak with lawyers.

Lawyers acting on behalf of the 157 will allege the Australian government illegally intercepted the asylum seekers and falsely imprisoned them “on the high seas” for nearly a month.

Following a brief High Court hearing Monday - in which a scheduled August 5 hearing before the High Court was shelved - George Newhouse, acting on behalf of the asylum seekers, said the case had not changed, but the concern the asylum seekers would be summarily returned to Sri Lanka or India had eased.

The 157 were flown to the Australian mainland from the Cocos Islands Sunday.

“There’s nothing in this decision today that changes the importance of this case,” Mr Newhouse said. “All that’s going to happen is that it will proceed in a more orderly way ... the urgency has gone out of the case because they’re no longer being held virtual prisoner on the high seas. They’re now on Australian soil, and they’ll be dealt with according to Australian law.”

The case remains before the High Court and lawyers for the asylum seekers and for the government have been given until July 31 to lodge submissions before it returns to court at a date to be fixed.

The 157 asylum seekers - including 37 children - are being held at Curtin detention centre in the remote north of Western Australia, and Indian high commission officials are preparing to interview them to determine if they are Indian citizens.

India has promised to repatriate Indian citizens, and will consider accepting the return of other non-citizen residents.

It is understood most, if not all, of the Tamil asylum seekers are originally from Sri Lanka, and fled that country from India during, and after the civil war. They have been living in refugee camps in India since.

But Mr Newhouse said determining the Tamils’ asylum claims was impossible because lawyers acting on their behalf not been given access to speak with them.

“We’ve been given very little to no access to our clients. And I am extremely concerned that they are about to be interrogated by foreign powers and possibly delivered up to them without even having the opportunity to speak to them.”

“I can’t tell you anything about these people and their claims because I haven’t had the chance to speak with them. No-one has. The government is still holding them as virtual prisoners.”

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said Monday there was no circumstance under which the 157 would be resettled in Australia.

“People said they want to come and settle in Australia because that’s what they paid the people smugglers for. But that’s not what they will be getting here under any set of circumstances,” WA Today reports.