Peter Qasim
Encyclopedia
Peter Qasim was the longest-serving detainee within the Australian immigration detention system
, having resided there for over seven years . He had not been deported because he was stateless. He had applied to over 80 countries for asylum, but had not been accepted.
His case has been publicised by the well-known Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith
. Australian authorities have maintained that he has not proven his nationality. He was invited to apply for a new visa
on 20 June 2005. In 2005 Qasim was 31 years old, and was held at Baxter Detention Centre until, on June 9, 2005, he was moved to a psychiatric hospital. On July 16, 2005 Qasim was granted a bridging visa
by the Australian government.
Australian immigration detention facilities
Australian immigration detention facilities comprise a number of different facilities throughout Australia and one on the Australian territory of Christmas Island. They are used to house people who are detained under Australia’s policy of mandatory detention and previously under the now defunct...
, having resided there for over seven years . He had not been deported because he was stateless. He had applied to over 80 countries for asylum, but had not been accepted.
His case has been publicised by the well-known Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith
Dick Smith (entrepreneur)
Dick Smith, AO is an Australian entrepreneur, businessman, aviator, and political activist. He is the founder of Dick Smith Electronics, Dick Smith Foods and Australian Geographic, and was selected as the 1986 Australian of the Year.-Electronics:In 1968, Dick Smith founded electronics retailer...
. Australian authorities have maintained that he has not proven his nationality. He was invited to apply for a new visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
on 20 June 2005. In 2005 Qasim was 31 years old, and was held at Baxter Detention Centre until, on June 9, 2005, he was moved to a psychiatric hospital. On July 16, 2005 Qasim was granted a bridging visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
by the Australian government.
Sources
- http://news.independent.co.uk/world/australasia/story.jsp?story=637951
- http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10125379
- SMH breaking news - Longest serving detainee offered new visa
- Qasim's grim record-beating spell to end in days, from SMHThe Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
2005-06-22