UNHCR attacks Australian immigration policy

GENEVA (CNN) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has criticized Australia's policy of detaining asylum seekers following the end of protests this week by hundreds of Afghans at the remote Woomera detention camp.

The UNHCR on Friday urged Canberra to review its hard-line policy on illegal immigrants as a result of the incidents, in which more than 250 detainees at Woomera went on a 16-day hunger strike to protest the slow processing of protection visas.

Australia had argued the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan invalidated many of the claims for protection from persecution.

"Recent events in Australian immigration detention centers are a stark reminder of the concerns of the international community regarding the detention of asylum seekers," said High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers.

"Among asylum seekers there may be refugees who have fled persecution and many have suffered torture and trauma in their countries of origin. These refugees should not be put through an additional ordeal."

The hunger-striking Woomera detainees had maintained many of them were from the Hazara group in central Afghanistan, and were persecuted because of their ethnicity and adherence to the Shia branch of the Muslim faith.

They said they remained under threat regardless of the Taliban's political power.

Conditions criticized

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Conditions in the sparse Woomera camp, located in the desert about 300 miles (500 km) north of South Australian state capital of Adelaide, have been criticized many times in independent reports.

The government has given assurances the facilities are adequate, though Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock has said closing Woomera might be possible in the future.

Prime Minister John Howard has received international condemnation for his immigration policy, which mandates the detention of all illegal immigrants, including women and children, while their applications for refugee status are assessed.

That process can take months -- or even years -- should the applicants appeal an unfavorable outcome.

Many of the 800 Woomera detainees have been kept at the camp for more than a year, and some for as many as three years.

It is the largest of Australia's five domestic detention camps, which hold about 2,000 asylum seekers, most of whom come from the Middle East and Afghanistan via people-smuggling networks.

Hunger strike ends

About 1,000 more illegal immigrants are held in Australian-run camps on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru and on the island of Manus in Papua New Guinea.

The 16-day protest and hunger strike, which included suicide attempts and the grisly practice of sewing lips together with cotton, came to an end Wednesday after three days of talks by an independent negotiating group.

The UNHCR said it did not condone the "acts of violence and self-harm" by the detainees, but was concerned about their public vilification.

Howard proposed offering payments to the Afghan asylum seekers to assist them in resettling in Afghanistan, but the U.N. agency said it did not agree with the idea because of the precarious security situation remaining in the country.