Muhammad Faisal is an Iraqi

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

who was detained on the island of

Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in ...

between 2001 and 2006 under the Australian Government's "

pacific solution Pacific Solution is the name given to the Government of Australia policy of transporting asylum seekers to detention centres on island nations in the Pacific Ocean, rather than allowing them to land on the Australian mainland. Initially imple ...

". 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 The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ) is Australia's national security agency responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically motivated vi ...

(ASIO).

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, 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 is the name given to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) border protection operation in the country's northern approaches conducted between 2001 and 2006. The operation was instigated following the Tampa affair in September 2001 ...

, an Australian Government operation designed to prevent asylum seekers reaching the

Australian migration zone The Australian migration zone is a legal device created by the Australian Government for the purpose of Australia's visa policy and immigration policy, as the territory in which Australia's visa policy applies. The Australian migration zone co ...

by sea. After attempts to force the Aceng to leave the Ashmore Islands

contiguous zone The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...

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 Afghan asylum seekers transferred from the MV Tampa, 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, where she was reprovisioned. The then Prime Minister,

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

, 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

(ASIO) assessed both he and another Iraqi refugee,

Mohammed Sagar Mohammed Sagar (born 1976, in Najaf) is an Iraqi, 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' ...

, 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 ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

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 suing the

Director-General of Security The Director-General of Security is the executive officer of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), Australia's national security agency. The Director-General, through ASIO, has overall responsibility for the protection of th ...

, Paul O'Sullivan in the Federal Court in an effort to determine the reasons for ASIO's adverse assessments. In November 2007, the court ordered

discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discove ...

of documents including Faisal and Sagar's adverse security assessments, but ASIO appealed to the Full Court. Justices Ryan, North and Jessup were due to deliver their judgement on 18 July. The court upheld the right of the court upheld the right of the ASIO to keep the grounds of the assessments secret. A further appeal was also rejected by the government.

References

External links

*Michael Gordon
Home is where the broken heart is
''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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Faisal, Muhammad Iraqi people imprisoned abroad Prisoners and detainees of the Commonwealth of Australia Iraqi refugees Iraqi emigrants to Australia Living people Iraqi expatriates in Nauru Year of birth missing (living people)