Tongan families

Letter to the Editor - The Daily Telegraph
6 June 2005

Dear Sir/Madam

The headline on your article (Just let us return home, 6/6/2005) may mislead readers to believe the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs is stopping three Tongan families from departing Australia.

This is not the case. The department is working closely with the Tongan Government to register the children’s births in Tonga and arrange travel documents to enable the families to return home.

The article also states that the Tongan consulate will not deal with the families directly because they are in detention.

This is not true. All the families have the right to contact the Tongan consulate. All immigration detainees have the right to consular access.

Kym Charlton
Acting Director
Public Affairs
DIMIA