Manus Island's Last Man Standing Wins His Freedom Via Email
The Age
Saturday May 29, 2004
For 10 months, Aladdin Sisalem has been the sole inmate of the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea.
Yesterday the stateless, Kuwait-born Palestinian won his freedom. An email message from the Immigration Department informed him: ``You have been granted a visa and you will be here next week."
A spokesman for Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said the decision was made after a request from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to resettle Mr Sisalem in Australia.
His solicitor, Eric Vadarlis, who had launched a Federal Court action to compel the department to process Mr Sisalem's application for asylum, said his client was ``over the moon".
``I think he's stunned," Mr Vadarlis said. ``It is fantastic news. It is a victory for common sense. The poor man gets to get on with his life and the Australian public gets to save $23,000 a day."
Mr Sisalem landed by boat on the Torres Strait island of Saiba on December 21, 2002, and sought Australia's protection.
He was sent to Manus Island and later became its sole detainee.
The department had estimated that it cost $23, 000 a day to keep Mr Sisalem on the remote PNG island.
However, Senator Vanstone's spokesman confirmed that the Manus Island centre, which cost $4.3 million to run over a six-month period, would remain open.
It is believed Mr Sisalem has been granted a humanitarian visa, which is valid for a longer period than a three-year temporary protection visa.
Senator Vanstone had previously said Mr Sisalem would not be let into Australia because he was the responsibility of PNG, where he had first applied for asylum.
Mr Vadarlis said he expected Mr Sisalem would arrive in Melbourne early next week.
© 2004 The Age