Three Somali asylum seekers who say they would rather return home to a death sentence
than remain in Australia after three years in detention were told by the government
Wednesday to go if they want to.
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock accused them of trying to pressure him by
suggesting detention in Australia is worse than returning to Somalia. The
three wrote to the immigration department saying they want to return to Somalia
after being locked behind razor-wire fences at Port Hedland detention centre since
arriving in Australia in November 1997. "Because
of the depression, trauma and anxiety and mental pressure, we are afraid to commit
suicide or lose our mind," the letter said. "Therefore, we do prefer to go back
to Somalia and die as innocent victims." The
Uniting Church, which is trying to help the three by airing their grievances,
says they have already lost members of their families to violence in Somalia and
would face persecution and death if they returned.
However, Ruddock told ABC radio the men had been through the Federal Court and
the Refugee Tribunal twice, and while there were no immediate plans to deport
them, they could leave Australia if they wished. He
said if the suggestion was that circumstances in Somalia were preferable to detention
in Australia then it appeared an obvious effort to pressure him in to allowing
them to stay. "It's
not a nice place to be, I would be the first to acknowledge that, because essentially
governments as we know it don't exist in Somalia," he said. "But
whether or not individuals returning to Somalia would be targeted is a separate
issue." . | 
