Posted on January 31, 2014

Australia to Deport Asylum Seekers Who Spit or Swear, Draft Code Reveals

Huffington Post, January 30, 2014

Asylum seekers should be deported for “irritating people, disturbing someone or spitting or swearing in public”, according to the leaked draft of Australia’s Behaviour Code.

Immigration minister Scott Morrison announced in December that detainees would have to sign a new code of conduct, and a draft of the draconian code has been leaked to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

Australia has seen a growing number of refugees from Iran, Afghanistan and Burma, as well as immigrants from South East Asia, but has come under fire for some of its harsh policies toward asylum seekers.

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said penalties “could start with just a warning, you may have your Red Cross payments reduced or stopped all together or you may be placed in detention in Australia or offshore on Nauru and Manus Island.”

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The Greens senator Sarah-Hanson Young called it “clear discrimination against a specific group of people and it needs to be called out for what it is.”