Muhammad Faisal

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Muhammad Faisal

Muhammad Faisal is an Iraqi refugee

Refugee

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecutionOwing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality,...
who was detained on the island of Nauru

Nauru

Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island nation in the Micronesian Pacific Ocean....
between 2001 and 2006 under the Australian Government's "pacific solution

Pacific Solution

The Pacific Solution was the name given to the Australian government policy of transporting asylum seekers to detention camps on small island nations in the Pacific Ocean, rather than allowing them to land on the Australian mainland....
". Faisal became the second last Iraqi refugee to leave Nauru after he was initially refused a protection visa on the basis of an adverse security assessment issued by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is the domestic counter-intelligence and security agency of Australia which is responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, politically-motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defence system, terrorism and acts of foreign interference....
(ASIO).

al was one of 227, mostly Iraqi, refugees who boarded an Indonesian vessel, the Aceng, in August 2001.

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Encyclopedia

Muhammad Faisal is an Iraqi refugee

Refugee

Nauru

Pacific Solution

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

Attempt to apply for asylum

Faisal was one of 227, mostly Iraqi, refugees who boarded an Indonesian vessel, the Aceng, in August 2001. After a nine day journey, the Aceng approached the Ashmore Islands

Ashmore and Cartier Islands

The Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands are two groups of small low-lying uninhabited tropical islands in the Indian Ocean situated on the edge of the continental shelf north-west of Australia and south of the Indonesian island of Rote Island at ....
, an Australian territory where the refugees believed they could apply for asylum. The Aceng was intercepted by Royal Australian Navy vessels acting under Operation Relex

Operation Relex

Operation Relex is the name given to the Australian Defence Force border protection operation in the country's northern approaches conducted between 2001 and 2006....
, an Australian Government operation designed to prevent asylum seekers reaching the Australian migration zone

Australian migration zone

The Australian migration zone refers to the parts of Australia territory where a non citizen must hold a visa to legally enter and remain. It includes all states and mainland territories, plus some external territories, at the mean low water mark....
by sea.

After attempts to force the Aceng to leave the Ashmore Islands contiguous zone were abandoned, the passengers of the Aceng were transferred to the warship HMAS Manoora. Manoora, which had a capacity for only 450 people, was already carrying approximately 400 mostly Afghani asylum seekers transferred from the MV Tampa

MV Tampa

The ship MV Tampa was built in Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries for the carrying of Container ship or Roll-on/roll-off. It was launched in 1984 and is currently owned by the Norway based Wilhelmsen Lines Shipowning....
, the Norwegian cargo ship at the centre of the diplomatic crisis which triggered the Australian Government's policy of off-shore detention.

Manoora sailed to a location in international waters off Darwin

Darwin, Northern Territory

Darwin is the List of Australian capital cities of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 120,900, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely peopled Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities....
, where she was reprovisioned. The then Prime Minister, John Howard

John Howard

John Winston Howard, Order of Australia was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He is the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Robert Menzies....
, told journalists: "At no stage did this latest vessel reach Australian territorial waters. As a result questions of application for asylum status do not arise."

Upon Manoora’s arrival in Nauru, many of the Iraqi asylum seekers refused to leave the vessel. After 12 days, they were removed from Manoora by force.

ASIO security assessments

While Faisal's claim to asylum was recognised by the Australian Government, his resettlement was prevented after the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is the domestic counter-intelligence and security agency of Australia which is responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, politically-motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defence system, terrorism and acts of foreign interference....
(ASIO) assessed both he and another Iraqi refugee, Mohammed Sagar

Mohammed Sagar

Mohammed Sagar is an Iraqi Shia Muslim refugee who was detained on Manus Island and Nauru between 2001 and 2006. Sagar became the last of approximately 1,300 refugees from the Middle East to be detained on Nauru under the Australian Government's "Pacific Solution" after an adverse security assessment was issued by the Australian Security In...
, to be "direct or indirect" threats to Australia's national security in 2005.

While in detention, Faisal suffered severe depression, leading to his evacuation to Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the state List of Australian capital cities of Queensland and its most populous city. It is also the List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, behind southern rivals Sydney and Melbourne....
in September 2006. A second security assessment conducted by ASIO found that Faisal was not a security threat and he was permitted to settle in Australia. Faisal has never been informed of the reasons for the initial adverse assessment.

Legal challenge

Faisal and Sagar are sueing the Director-General of Security

Director-General of Security

The Director-General of Security is the executive officer of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation , the domestic security agency of Australia....
, Paul O'Sullivan

Paul O'Sullivan

Paul O'Sullivan is Australia's High Commissioner to New Zealand and former Director-General of Security. Prior to his appointment to head ASIO in July 2005, O'Sullivan was former Prime Minister John Howard's senior foreign affairs advisor....
in the Federal Court in an effort to determine the reasons for ASIO's adverse assessments. In November 2007, the court ordered discovery

Discovery (law)

In law, discovery is the pre-trial phase in a lawsuit in which each party through the law of civil procedure can request documents and other evidence from other parties or can compel the production of evidence by using a subpoena or through other discovery devices, such as requests for production of documents, and deposition s....
of documents including Faisal and Sagar's adverse security assessments, but ASIO appealed to the Full Court. Justices Ryan, North and Jessup are due to deliver their judgement on 18 July.

External links

Michael Gordon, , The Age, 15 April, 2005.
Michael Gordon, , Sydney Morning Herald, 16 April, 2005.
Nick Squires, , The Telegraph, 15 October, 2005.
Michael Gordon, , The Age, 4 November, 2005.
Michael Gordon, , The Age, 11 March, 2006.
Michael Gordon, , The Age, 17 June, 2006.
Michael Gordon, , The Age, 16 August, 2006.
Jewell Topsfeld and Michael Gordon, , The Age, 17 August, 2006.
Peter McCutcheon, , The 7.30 Report, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 24 August, 2008.
Michael Gordon, , The Age, 6 November, 2006.
Nick Butterly, , News.com.au, 31 January, 2007.
, News.com.au, 1 February, 2007.
Karen Barlow, , AM, ABC Radio, 1 February, 2007.
Michael Gordon, , The Age, 1 February, 2007.
, ABC News, 1 February, 2007.