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Thursday, 24 November 2011
Page: 9504

Senator HANSON-YOUNG (South Australia) (12:23): I move:

That the Senate—

   (a)   notes that:

   (i)   more than 3 000 Iranian exiles and asylum seekers reside at Camp Ashraf in Iraq, and

   (ii)   these people are at risk of expulsion or refoulement, if the Iraqi Government persists in its plan to close the camp by the end of 2011; and

   (b)   calls on the Federal Government to lobby:

   (i)   the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to declare the camp a refugee camp,

   (ii)   the United Nations and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to station a monitoring team in the camp to ensure residents’ protection, and

   (iii)   the Iraqi Government to suspend all plans to close the camp until the UNHCR has had an opportunity to process and transfer all applicants for asylum.