An Australian High Court is to hold a special hearing in October over the detention of asylum seekers at sea.
The legal team representing 157 Tamil asylum seekers who were held at sea for over 4 weeks and then brought to a detention centre in Western Australia before being transferred to Nauru, have challenged the legality of such a detention.
The hearing has been set for October 14 and 15 by Justice Kenneth Hayne.
“What Australia does on the high seas does affect international law and the approach of other countries,” George Newhouse, a lawyer for the asylum seekers told the Guardian.
"It’s likely we’ll see intervention from human rights organisations both here and internationally," he said.
"It would be highly unusual for the United Nations to intervene in a high court case in Australia. It shows the high level of concern internationally over Australia’s treatment of vulnerable men, women and children. This is a very serious case where 157 people were effectively abducted on the high seas and that’s not the behaviour the United Nations wants to see."
“This case is about the legality of holding people prisoner like this and, furthermore, the legality of putting them on little red lifeboats and pushing them off to a third country.”
See here and here for more.
See also: Senior judge questions legality of Australian govt asylum seeker procedure (14 Aug 2014)
The legal team representing 157 Tamil asylum seekers who were held at sea for over 4 weeks and then brought to a detention centre in Western Australia before being transferred to Nauru, have challenged the legality of such a detention.
The hearing has been set for October 14 and 15 by Justice Kenneth Hayne.
“What Australia does on the high seas does affect international law and the approach of other countries,” George Newhouse, a lawyer for the asylum seekers told the Guardian.
"It’s likely we’ll see intervention from human rights organisations both here and internationally," he said.
"It would be highly unusual for the United Nations to intervene in a high court case in Australia. It shows the high level of concern internationally over Australia’s treatment of vulnerable men, women and children. This is a very serious case where 157 people were effectively abducted on the high seas and that’s not the behaviour the United Nations wants to see."
“This case is about the legality of holding people prisoner like this and, furthermore, the legality of putting them on little red lifeboats and pushing them off to a third country.”
See here and here for more.
See also: Senior judge questions legality of Australian govt asylum seeker procedure (14 Aug 2014)