Unwanted Australians call for acknowledgment of mistreatment
Monday, 11 July 2016
Special SBS investigation finds hundreds of migrants were refused citizenship on political grounds after WWII
Five-part podcast series available now
A group of elderly Australians is calling on the federal government to publicly acknowledge they were mistreated by being refused citizenship on political grounds after WWII, in many cases for decades.
A major SBS investigation by reporters Kristina Kukolja and Lindsey Arkley has found hundreds of migrants — including those from Greece, Italy, and the former Yugoslavia, as well as Cyprus, Poland, Spain, The Netherlands and more — who were recruited under Australia’s largest post-war settlement scheme were denied naturalisation without ever officially being given a reason, or the opportunity for appeal.
Declassified Immigration and ASIO files show they were adversely recorded as national security risks over their confirmed or suspected association with the Communist Party of Australia, or with community groups regarded as having left-wing leanings.
The migrants suffered severe consequences with regard to their residency status, employment, family, and their ability to travel, and to participate fully in Australian society. None of the thousands of declassified pages viewed by SBS makes any reference to any conviction of any of the UA’s on serious criminal charges — or any suspicion of any involvement in serious criminal activity.
The SBS Unwanted Australians investigation shows that Australia shared intelligence on the political activities of foreign nationals who it refused to naturalise with foreign governments, including some which were internationally condemned for their treatment of political opponents.
It also reveals that, in a period of peacetime in Australia, tens of thousands of migrants and refugees were listed on a secret index for potential internment or other restrictions — maintained by ASIO and the Immigration Department.
“A migrant who was born in another country loves to visit the place of his birth”, says one of the “Unwanted Australians”, George Zangalis. “I couldn’t visit Greece until 1973, and I came here in 1950.”
The group, backed by former High Court judge Michael Kirby and others, is urging the federal government to acknowledge that they were wrongly treated, and to issue a formal apology.
Michael Kirby, who recently headed a United Nations inquiry into North Korea, says he hopes “before this story is over we get into a state in Australia that we find it in ourselves big enough to acknowledge that wrongs were done and to have it expressed in our national parliament that we regret that was so”.
Unwanted Australians is a special investigation by Kristina Kukolja and Lindsey Arkley. The five-part podcast series is available on https://soundcloud.com/sbsnews
SBS Radio programs will broadcast adaptations of the investigation in multiple languages from Monday 11 July.