Another moment in Australia’s dysfunctional refugee system

A refugee activist from Western Australia writes to me:

An Iraqi asylum seeker I visit at a detention centre just got a rejection letter from DIAC [Department of Immigration and Citizenship]. His brother is an Aussie citizen whom I have met while he has been visiting the Iraqi. After waiting 14 months, the government says he is not a refugee. Reason on the letter? “It is now safe in Sri Lanka”. I should think this suggests they are now sending out pro forma rejections and transposed a stack of names. So more then just incompetence.

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