Today lawyers from the National Justice Project (NJP) will return to court to try to stop Peter Dutton from implementing his ban on mobile phones in immigration detention.
In Feb 2017, the National Justice Project obtained a court order to stop the Minister for Immigration from implementing a blanket policy of confiscating the mobile phones from everyone in immigration detention. The Minister has now appealed that decision. Tomorrow, lawyers from the National Justice Project will return to the Full Federal Court to resist the Commonwealth Government’s attempt to appeal that injunction.
George Newhouse, Principal Solicitor at the NJP and Adjunct Professor of Law at Macquarie University, said “The unprecedented and indiscriminate attempt by Mr Dutton to confiscate mobile phones is part of the process of criminalising asylum seekers. It fits an ongoing pattern of punishment and cruelty towards asylum seekers by this government.”
“Commissioner Quaedvlieg claims that the use of mobile phones is linked to criminal behaviour. This is simply not the case. Mobile phones are a life line to the outside world that enables individuals to maintain their sanity and communicate with their families, their loved ones, the community and their legal representatives.”
Prof Newhouse continued, “If the Minister is concerned about the actions of some convicted criminals who are being kept in detention, then he should separate those people from the asylum seekers who have broken no laws and who desperately need their phones. This is a cynical form of group punishment.”
“Any suggestion that land lines in the detention centres are adequate is a joke. It is virtually impossible for people to call into Villawood, for example.”
The National Justice Project is committed to fighting for justice for all in our society
ABOUT THE NATIONAL JUSTICE PROJECT
The National Justice Project is a not for profit legal service. We combine strategic legal action with effective advocacy to advance human rights and social justice in Australia and in the Pacific Region.
For further information please visit our website – www.justice.org.au
Jane Salmon
