A former interpreter for Coalition forces has been sent back to Iraq by the Australian Government despite fears he will be a marked man on his home soil.
The young man, who we will refer to as Khaled to protect his identity, agreed to be repatriated after spending two years in Villawood and Christmas Island detention centres with no sign he would be released back into the Australian community.
He told Lateline conditions at the Christmas Island detention centre, where a major disturbance is currently underway, were so bad he felt he had no choice but to return to Iraq.
“They said to me if I don’t sign the removal I am going to be stuck in Christmas Island for a very long time,” he said.
Despite protests from Khaled, the Federal Government sent him back to the southern Iraqi city of Basra, where he said his father was murdered in front of him for also working as an interpreter.
The Government also charged Khaled $20,000 to cover the costs of his repatriation.
Khaled spoke to Lateline via Skype shortly after he arrived back in Iraq.
“It is very dangerous. Every now and then there is an explosion and there’s some fire exchange with some terrorist organisation and yeah the situation is very bad here in Iraq. It’s not that good,” he told Lateline.
Khaled worked for the US army for a year and his record of service states he was “an invaluable asset to the team, serving with honour and distinction”.
But Jane Healy, from Supporting Asylum Seekers Sydney, said Khaled and his father’s jobs had put them in grave danger.
“One night they were having dinner in their home, there was a knock at the door and Khaled’s father went to open the door and he was shot. He was killed. He was shot 13 times,” she said.
“Khaled hailed a taxi, got him into the taxi, attempted to get him to the hospital in the hope he would be revived but he was dead on arrival.”
Fearing he too would be killed for working as an interpreter, Khaled fled Iraq.
He came to Australia by boat and in 2012 he was granted a temporary safe haven visa and a bridging visa.
According to refugee advocates, Khaled was settling into his new life in Sydney, making friends and finding peace in his new surroundings.
But in October 2013, Khaled had a run-in with police.
After smoking a joint, he fell asleep in his car in the car park of McDonald’s in Merrylands, in western Sydney.
Khaled arrested, sent to Villawood
Police were called and after a brief exchange Khaled was arrested, charged with offensive language, resisting police and driving without a licence.
Refugee advocates said three days later, Khaled was taken to Villawood detention centre, where he was held for eight months while he waited for his court appearance.
Two of the charges were eventually dismissed and he pleaded guilty to the third charge of driving without a licence but no conviction was recorded.
But Khaled remained locked up in detention.
Under a regulation introduced by the Rudd government in 2013, a bridging visa can be cancelled if an individual is charged with an offence.
That means an individual can be detained indefinitely even if the courts decide they are innocent.
A few months after his arrest, two psychologists diagnosed Khaled as having a complex history of psychological trauma and likely post traumatic stress disorder.
Ms Healy said Khaled developed an ice addiction inside Villawood detention centre as a result of his condition.
“It’s self-medicating. He couldn’t live with this incarceration. He couldn’t live with the injustice,” she said.
In February this year, Khaled was sent to Christmas Island.
Ms Healy said he was woken at 3:00am by men wearing riot gear.
“He was dragged out of his bed, he was not allowed to pack any of his possessions. He was not allowed to speak to anyone,” she said.
“He was hand-cuffed and ankle-cuffed and he was taken straight to the airport where he was put on a plane, taken to Perth and held there for some time before then being transported to Christmas Island.
“During that time he was 12 hours in hand and ankle cuffs.”
Detoxing from his ice addiction and angered by his forced removal from Villawood, Khaled lashed out and smashed a CCTV camera.
Ms Healy said he was charged with damaging Commonwealth property and faced charges on Christmas Island.
Return to Iraq
Last month, Khaled signed a form agreeing to be repatriated back to the country he fled from. Lateline obtained the waiver and believes it is the first time such a document has been published.
It includes the following statement: “I understand that the Department is unable to entirely rule out the possibility that I may be at risk of harm if I return to Iraq.”
The Government obviously takes a decision on individuals about whether or not we issue visas in certain circumstances and people then make their own judgments about whether they return to any country.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton
The waiver also acknowledges Khaled was one of 9,000 asylum seekers who had their personal details mistakenly uploaded to the Department of Immigration’s website in 2014.
“The Department is unable to advise with certainty who may have accessed this information,” it said.
Ms Healy said Khaled’s life is at risk.
“This information that was leaked onto that website puts their lives at risk if they are returned to their countries,” she said.
“Within Iraq now there would be an awareness — and there have been hits on that site from Iraq — there would be an awareness of his name, his date of birth, that he was in detention, where he was from in Iraq, information that could cause him enormous problems on his return.”
Refugee lawyer David Manne said there needed to be to an urgent independent investigation into Khaled’s case and that he needed to be evacuated to a safe place immediately.
Mr Manne is shocked by the clauses contained in the document Khaled signed before his return.
“This is the first time I’ve seen a waiver of this kind and it is an extraordinary document,” he told Lateline.
“It raises very serious questions about accountability and legality in the administration of these policies and whether all the required steps were taken before his signature was essentially procured to send him back to such a dangerous place.”
Khaled now says he regrets signing the document that led to his repatriation.
“I do regret signing it but you know I had it really hard in there and they locked me in with the criminals and put me in for a very long time,” he said.
“I was a long time in detention. There was no reason to why I was detained and each and every time I tried to appeal it I got rejected or refused.”
When asked about Khaled’s case, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said he would not comment on individual cases.
“The Government obviously takes a decision on individuals about whether or not we issue visas in certain circumstances and people then make their own judgments about whether they return to any country,” he said.
“People would go with advice from the Department. If they’re going back on a voluntary basis [they] make a decision about what is best and appropriate for them.”
The Immigration Department told Lateline in a statement people who breach the conditions of their visa may be subject to detention.
The Department said Khaled requested voluntary removal from Australia and signed the appropriate paperwork in the presence of an independent witness and an accredited interpreter.