The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

ATTORNEY Martin Lundy yesterday condemned the failure of successive governments to adhere to international conventions concerning the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, or its own law in the processing of illegal migrants.

Mr Lundy said the government was obligated to follow the law or amend it as he spoke out about the injustices and human rights violations that occur due to the blatant disregard of existing legislation.

He argued that an irregular system allowed for human lives to slip through the cracks, and suggested the establishment of an immigration court, which would function solely to process migrants.

“Before any individual is deported there must be a deportation order,” Mr Lundy said, “they must be taken to court, they must be tried. None of that happens, or it rarely happens. I personally haven’t been involved in a matter where that was the case.

“We need an immigration court just like we have a civil court and a criminal court, we need an immigration court.

“It can be by the detention centre or near to the detention centre and you have a judge that only hears immigration matters, charge the individuals, get the requisite orders and then deport on the basis of that order.

“That is the only way to respect the laws that we currently have,” he said. “If that’s not what we’re seeking to do then we need to amend the law altogether.”

Mr Lundy spoke to The Tribune against the backdrop of the release of his clients, four refugees who had been held at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre without charge for more than two years.

In an interview with The Tribune, one of the refugees said: “The quality of life is very low because people sleeping by the ground, people sleeping outside. The meals, they give you whenever time that they want to give it to you.

“I get the breakfast almost 11am, sometimes lunch at 4pm in the afternoon and then 7pm you get the dinner. So, until the next day at 11am you don’t get nothing else. Most of the times the food is coming in cold, and sometimes its spoiled, especially the dinner sometimes.”

One of the men had been in detention since 2013.

“From the international standpoint with respect to refugees,” Mr Lundy said, “there is a fundamental difference between a refugee and a regular migrant. From a humane standpoint, how do you expect to treat someone who has come and said to you I’m being persecuted in my home country, if I return to my home country I will be killed? How do you respond to that with ‘oh I’ll lock you up forever’ and when asked your only response is to just wait.”

Mr Lundy added: “Two years, three years, one year is too long when you’re dealing with human beings. How many birthdays did they miss, Valentines, Christmases, New Year’s?

“Can you imagine a person saying I’d rather be in jail than be held here? Someone begging to be imprisoned only so that they can have some clarity on their situation? It’s about how we’re perceived internationally, it’s about integrity. Why sign on to something if you’re not going to abide by it? I’m not casting blame on any one government, because we’ve had several administrations since 1993. The issue I have is we’re now in 2017.

“It’s time for us to get our act together, get it together because we’re dealing with human beings,” Mr Lundy told The Tribune.