www.smh.com.au Vanstone to consider law changes July 27, 2005 - 10:14PM
Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone has promised to consider changing laws which led to the wrongful detention, interrogation and incarceration of a 21-year-old Bangladeshi man on a valid student visa.
Her pledge follows a scathing judgment from the Full Federal Court which found Mahabub Alam's visa had been wrongly cancelled and his home and belongings had been searched without apparent cause and without a warrant.
Justices Murray Wilcox, Margaret Stone and James Allsop found Mr Alam had been restrained throughout the search and his arrest and immigration officers would not even allow him put on a shirt before taking him from his home in only a singlet.
The judges said their findings should be brought to Senator Vanstone's attention at the earliest opportunity.
Mr Alam's visa was cancelled when departmental officers found he had worked 22 hours in a week, when the law said student visa holders were allowed to work only 20 hours.
The Migration Review Tribunal upheld the officers' action but it was overturned by the Federal Magistrates Court. AdvertisementAdvertisement
Senator Vanstone appealed to the Federal Court, where all three judges criticised the department's actions.
Mr Alam worked at Sydney hotel on the Friday night of the October 2002 long-weekend.
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When he was due to leave work, the duty manager became aware that another employee would not be reporting for work.
He asked Mr Alam to fill the gap by working on until closing time.
Mr Alam agreed; "no doubt thinking he was doing the right thing by helping out his boss", Justice Wilcox said.
About 10 weeks later Mr Alam was at home when immigration officers visited him.
"They were looking for a friend of Mr Alam, Shah Nazram Alam," Justice Wilcox said.
"The friend was at the house and made himself available to the DIMIA officers. However, the DIMIA officers were not content with this.
"They asked Mr Alam his name and inspected his pbuttport.
"They entered the house and searched Mr Alam's room and belongings.
"The officers neither sought nor obtained Mr Alam's consent to the search. Almost certainly, no warrant had been issued.
"They noted the payslips relating to the first two weeks in October 2002 and apparently interpreted them as meaning that Mr Alam had breached condition 8105 of his visa; he had worked 22 and a quarter hours in a week, rather than the permitted 20 hours."
Mr Alam was held at Villawood detention centre from December 18, 2002 to January 6, 2003 when he was granted a bridging visa.
The court considered various definitions of what consbreastuted a week, with Mr Alam's work on the Friday night being the point at issue.
On Senator Vanstone's submission, this work should have been counted along with work on the preceding weekdays but the court found that Mr Alam's working week, given he was on a student visa, ended with the end of his studies on a Friday afternoon.
Senator Vanstone on Wednesday night said the case involved the interpretation of what consbreastuted a week and she was satisfied with the outcome.
"I've already agreed to the preparation of a regulation dealing with exceptional circumstances to be applied in all similar cases," she said.
"My department has agreed to workshop cases with the education industry and I'm prepared to consider amending regulations, including mandatory cancellations, if warranted.
"I have asked my department to look at this matter in the context of its response to the Palmer report in regard to procedure and training."
