Well, well, well.The "Doctor Death" of Australian Immigration, the Honourable Kevin Andrews is at it again with another spin-doctoring performance which would put him first in line for an Emmy award.
There are 7 Burmese individuals still languishing on Nauru while Immigration officials determine their plight and whether or not they qualify for humanitarian refugee status.
The Department's investigations can be long and arduous and no one is suggesting that they should ever be rushed.
But these men have had to take their case to the High Court of Australia to force proper consideration of their applications.
Now, out of the blue, Kevin Andrews says that the men could have had their claims expedited if they had agreed to voluntarily return to Malaysia.
However, the lawyers for the Nauru Seven have rightly pointed out that the men are all Muslims from Burma's Rohingya minority and after fleeing Burma had been brutalised by Malaysian officials.
But to make matters worse, Kevin Andrews also outrageously suggested that the men had not been anxious to finalise their applications.
"One of the difficulties is the lawyers for the seven on Nauru seem to have been not in a great hurry to get these matters dealt with," he said.
"One of the difficulties is the lawyers for the seven on Nauru seem to have been not in a great hurry to get these matters dealt with," he said.
Now, either Kevin Andrews is a complete dill or he is being given wrong advice by his Department. Or both.
The Nauru Seven are desperate. They have been forcibly detained on Nauru for a year. They have filed the appropriate applications. They have engaged lawyers and they have gone to the High Court of Australia to expedite their claims.
For God sake Kevin what more can they have done?
All Kevin Andrews can say is that these men are tardy in the way they have proceeded with their claims and could have saved their souls by going back to Malaysia.
Kevin Andrews does not seem to have have one ounce of compassion in his body when dealing with such matters.
He seems to regard these people as file numbers and not as human beings who - along with their families - await their fate.
Just look at how Kevin Andrews dealt with Dr Mohamed Haneef by continuing to treat him like a common criminal even after the Director of Public Prosecutions had dropped criminal charges against Dr Haneef.
The sooner Kevin Andrews is dumped as Immigration Minister, the sooner the people of Australia will have their confidence in our immigration system restored.
