SYDNEY—The Australian government has agreed to compensate a group of Chinese asylum seekers who were forced into interrogations at Sydney’s Villawood detention centre in 2006. Chinese Ministry of Public Security were allowed to interrogate Chinese political dissidents, Christians and practitioners of Falun Gong, who were being held at Villawood while their claims for refuge were being assessed.
Immigration lawyer Michaela Byers, who represented members of the group, said the interviews were a “disgrace”.
“Especially that the interviews commenced without Department of Immigration officials present, that they allowed the Chinese delegation basically to do as they pleased and there was no protocol or guidelines in place to ensure that the detainee’s personal information or privacy was safeguarded,” she told ABC Radio’s PM program
There are fears for the safety of two former asylum seekers who were deported back to China after their interviews.
