Immigration Detention
Letter to the Editor - Daily Telegraph
4 May 2005
Dear Sir/Madam
I wish to clarify some of the statements in your story about immigration detention (Wrongfully detained, 4/5/05).
Immigration Department officers can lawfully detain people when they hold a reasonable suspicion that the person is an unlawful non-citizen.
Many things can lead an officer to hold such a reasonable suspicion, including difficulty establishing identity.
The Australian citizen who was removed four years ago is not among the 33 detention cases referred to in your article. These occurred between July 2003 and February last year.
Kym Charlton
Acting Director
Public Affairs
DIMIA