Key Points
- Polachan Vareed, Shaju Kunjuvareed and Shibu Lonakunji were detained for nearly 110 hours by the Australian Border Force after arriving in Perth.
- The three Indian nationals had come to Australia on tourist visas.
- The Minister for Immigration later conceded that the decision was a ‘jurisdictional error’; the men are seeking compensation.
Three Indian nationals were taken into custody by Australian Border Force officials when they landed at Perth Airport on Thursday, 1 September.
The men, who are members of the same family, spent almost 110 hours in an immigration detention facility in Perth after ABF cancelled their tourist visas and decided to deport them.
“I was questioned like a criminal and kept in detention for five days, just because I didn’t bring my wife with me,” one of the men, Polachan Vareed, told SBS Malayalam.
“Is this how tourists are treated here?”
Immigration officials informed the men that their visas had been cancelled because they had not travelled with their “stated travel companions” as mentioned in their visa application.
“Departmental systems confirm that the person you claimed as your spouse in your visa application is currently not in Australia,” reads a notice of intention to cancel their visa served by the ABF.
“The above information confirms you have provided an incorrect answer on your current Subclass 600 (Visitor) visa application.”
"We were excited about visiting Australia before touching down in Perth" Credit: Supplied: Biju Pallan
Mr Vareed and the two other men were released from detention following a court order quashing the government decision.
"The [minister's] delegate misconstrued section 101(b) of the Migration Act 1958 in finding that the applicant had provided incorrect answers," the court order said.
The respondent concedes there was no evidence before the delegate that the information provided by the applicant, being who he intended to travel to Australia with, was incorrect at the time the application was lodgedFederal Circuit Court
The court has asked the Ministry of Immigration to pay the legal costs of the visitors.
In response to a query from SBS Malayalam, an ABF spokesperson said the Department of Home Affairs does not comment on individual cases due to privacy reasons.
“Visa cancellation powers help to ensure the protection of the Australian community and the integrity of Australia’s borders and visa programs,” the spokesperson said via email.
‘Where are our rights?’
Polachan Vareed, Shaju Kunjuvareed and Shibu Lonakunji were in Perth to attend a family function.
“We were very excited until we reached Perth,” Mr Lonakunji told SBS Malayalam.
“My brother-in-law Biju Pallan had invited us. We were travelling on tourist visas to attend a family function to celebrate the First Holy Communion of Biju’s daughter,” he said.
The three men had been planning to stay with Mr Pallan while in Australia.
Mr Vareed said there was no visa condition requiring them to travel with their stated companion.
“I had mentioned in the visa application that my wife would be travelling with me to Australia, as did the other two. However, our spouses decided to stay back for the moment. It was never a visa condition that we should travel only with our spouses,” he said.
Credit: Supplied: Biju Pallan
The three men and their spouses were granted three-year-long tourist visas by the Department of Home Affairs in May and June.
Since another couple in the family didn’t get visas, the three women decided to stay back.
Mr Pallan said he never expected that decision to be considered illegal by the ABF.
“It was a family decision. Both my sisters who got visas decided to stay back because the third sister didn’t get it. I respected their decision.”
Mr Vareed said that they were approached by ABF officers as soon as they cleared the immigration procedure and were questioned in separate rooms.
“We reached Perth around 5 pm and were questioned until midnight or later. We didn’t have access to mobile phones or our bags, so I didn’t have any clue about the time.”
They said the officers asked them if they were in Australia to work illegally.
Three different sets of officers came to our rooms and questioned us like we were criminals.
Mr Vareed said he was asked the same questions over and over again, with the help of an interpreter.
“I told them I was here to attend a family function. I gave all the details that I knew. Still, they kept on asking me why I didn’t bring my wife with me and if I was lying,” he said.
Mr Lonakunji said he had gone through a similar experience.
“I had heard many good stories about Australia from my friends and family members."
I had heard that Australia respects one's human rights. Where were our rights when we were treated like criminals just because our spouses were not with us?Shibu Lonakunji
‘Overreach by ABF’
The President of the Ethnic Communities Council of WA, Suresh Rajan, alleged that this incident showed “considerable overreach by ABF”.
“What they have called ‘jurisdictional error’ is really quite bizarre,” he said.
“This action smacks of stereotyping a group of foreign visitors as people who want to overstay their lawfully granted visas. It is also a complete waste of taxpayers' money and has placed a number of people in absolute anguish both here and overseas.”
Suresh Rajan, President of the Ethnic Communities Council of WA Credit: Supplied
He said at a time when Australia is desperately seeking foreign visitors to boost the tourism sector, such incidents are very disappointing.
Biju Pallan, who invited the three men to Australia to attend the family function, said it was a very stressful time for his family.
“I was waiting in the Perth Airport with my wife and three kids since 5 pm on Thursday. My kids haven’t seen their uncles for eight years, so we were all excited to welcome them,” he told SBS Malayalam.
“Then I received a call from an ABF officer asking whom we were waiting for. A few hours later three officers came out and started questioning me in front of the public.”
Mr Pallan said he was asked about his family, business and house, as well as the vehicles he owns.
“They wanted to know how I would accommodate the visitors, take them around, and how I could afford their stay. They asked me to show my bank account details and they wanted to see photos of my cars.”
“I was forced to show all these in a public area. It was quite embarrassing, and my daughter started crying seeing all this,” he said.
‘How many can afford to fight?’
Mr Pallan said once he was informed of the decision to cancel the three men’s visas and shift them to a detention centre, he decided to fight legally.
“If they were deported, it ruins their reputation. It will affect the family. After following all legal procedures, how can they be deported like illegal entrants?”
However, Mr Pallan said many immigration lawyers in Perth were reluctant to take up the case against ABF, and he finally approached Carina Ford in Melbourne, who had appeared for the Biloela family in the legal fight against deportation.
“The legal fight is quite expensive, but I decided to go ahead with it."
How many others could take that risk? How many others could have been deported because they could not afford the legal fight?Biju Pallan
He said the family has now decided to ask for compensation from the government.
“We have gone through huge stress. All the family members in India were crying throughout. I could not work for three days, my business suffered a huge loss – all because of a jurisdictional error. Shouldn’t we be compensated?” Mr Pallan asked.
