UK rejects political asylum to Afghan children

Two Afghan boys aged 12 and 13 have been refused political asylum by the United Kingdom after seeking refuge in the British Consulate in Melbourne, Australia.

Months after fleeing from the refugee camp at Woomera, the boys found their way into the British Embassy compound, only to be denied access to political asylum by the British authorities before being handed over to the Australian police.

They are now back in a detention centre, in Maribyrnong, Melbourne. However, the decision by the British authorities has been criticised by Erik Vadarlis, representing Freedom Victory, who is defending the boys.

Claiming that the decision was “inhumane”, he explained that “They were trying to explain their situation and that they would be thrown back into jail. They thought Woomera was a prison, a place without a future”.

The boys’ father had previously obtained a temporary protection visa in Australia on the grounds that being a Hazara, he would be subject to discrimination by the other ethnic groups in Afghanistan. He decided to call his family to be with him but these (his wife and five children) were promptly locked up in Woomera because they could not prove their Afghan citizenship.

Timofei BYELO PRAVDA.Ru

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