Australia to check detainee cases
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- The row over Australia's mandatory detention policy has heated up after revelations that more than 200 cases of possible wrongful detention are being examined.
Australian Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone has referred 201 cases to a special inquiry which is investigating the wrongful detention of Australian citizen Cornelia Rau and the deportation of another Australian citizen, Vivian Alvarez Solon.
The admission comes as some members of John Howard's Liberal coalition government grow increasingly restless about Australia's mandatory detention policy for illegal arrivals.
These MPs are publicly calling for children and their parents to be released immediately from detention centers.
People held in detention centers on the Australian mainland, on remote Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean and on Nauru in the Pacific Ocean include those who have overstayed their visas or who have sought to enter Australia illegally. A number of children have been born to mothers in custody.
Senator Vanstone told a parliamentary Senate Estimates Committee on Wednesday that while the cases marked "released not unlawful" were not necessarily "'wrongful detention," they had had been referred to the inquiry headed by former Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Palmer to ensure no errors had been made.
"Consequently, not all these (201) cases will be of concern," she said.
The hearing also heard from the head of the Immigration Department, Bill Farmer, who apologized on behalf of his department over the handling of some cases.
"It is distressing and unacceptable that our actions have in respect fallen so short of what we would want and what we understand the Australian people expect," Farmer was quoted by Australian Broadcasting Corp. as saying.
"We are very sorry for that."
While Palmer is still to report his findings, Vanstone used the hearing to announce a number of changes to be implemented immediately.
She said a special National Identification Verification unit had been set up in the nation's capital Canberra, to ensure complex issues were dealt with quickly and consistently. It would also provide advice to state and territory case officers about how to go about identity checking.
In addition a pychatrist will visit South Australia's Baxter Detention Center every fortnight and psychiatric nurses will be on call 24 hours a day from next week.
