Mr Ruddock shouldn't be surprised that the matter was aired in the
media. This habitual refusal of entry to delegates from certain
countries to different conferences is becoming a scandal. Contrary to
his assertions, the delegates which are refused entry are invariable
non-white. Mr Ruddock is also in the habit of making claims about
refugees and now delegates which are never backed up by independent
evidence.
This is the man Howard put in charge of reconciliation!
Trudy
****************************
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: LL:ART: Marxists Refused Entry into Australia
Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2000 18:21:56 -0800
From: alister air <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
International delegates to a Marxism conference were probably refused
entry
to Australia because they could not prove they would not stay on,
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said today.
Mr Ruddock has accused the conference organisers of attention grabbing
for
airing the matter in the media.
The delegates, from the Philippines and Bangladesh, were to have
attended
the Marxism 2000 conference at the University of Western Sydney,
Hawkesbury, from January 5-9.
While he has yet to receive information on exactly why the three
delegates
were banned, Mr Ruddock said it was possible they may not have been
co-operative.
'What I find normally happens in these matters, and I've asked for this
issue to be looked at, is people decline to provide sufficient
information
for us to be able to make a considered assessment,' he told reporters.
'The fact that you are a bona fide organisation, organising a conference
doesn't mean that you will necessarily extend an invitation to people
who
are always going to intend a bona fide visit.'
Australian Democratic Socialist Party national secretary John Percy has
said he believed the delegates were the victims of racial and political
discrimination.
Mr Percy said other delegates, including those from Canada and the US,
had
no problems in obtaining a visa.
Mr Ruddock said the rules did not discriminate against poorer people but
acknowledged that people from certain countries were considered to
provide
more of a risk than others.
'If you are seeking to come to Australia for a conference then it is
important to demonstrate to our officials that that is your principal
purpose and you don't have another objective in mind,' he said.
Mr Ruddock said the government had a policy to ensure any conference
organisers could liaise with the department of foreign affairs about
requirements and he was disappointed at the way the matter was raised in
the media.
'I find it disappointing that the issues are beaten up in a way which is
designed to bring more attention to the organisation involved than deal
with the principal issue.'
Mr Ruddock said the government already had problems with a major
conference
for the deaf held here last year.
'We found that numbers of people attending the conference of the deaf
have
remained in Australia at the conclusion of the conference even though
their
visas had expired.'
--
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