Australia pledges to pay refugees if they go back to Afghanistan

AUSTRALIA: The Australian government, under mounting pressure over its refugee detention policy, said yesterday it would pay an undisclosed fee to up to 4,000 Afghan refugees if they agree to leave Australia and return to their native land.

The leader of the Afghan community in Australia yesterday welcomed the plan saying travel expenses and "a few thousand dollars" would represent a fair price for the refugees.

The president of the Afghan Australia Council in New South Wales, Mr Wali Hakim, said the offer to pay the refugees to leave was sensible. Resettling in Afghanistan now that the Taliban regime has been defeated was a better option than living indefinitely in detention in Australia, he said.

"I can't say this is a bribe by the Australian government as long as they encourage them to go back with dignity and give them a fair amount," he said. "If they are willing to go back to Afghanistan voluntarily . . . after this long suffering, it is good idea."

The surprise development came just one day after a fortnight of rioting, mass suicide attempts and hunger striking at some of Australia's six refugee detention centres came to a halt. Detainees had been campaigning against the inhumane conditions at the centres and also for the fast-tracking of visa applications.

Currently there are around 4,000 Afghan refugees in Australia, Nauru and Papua New Guinea (PNG) waiting for the Australian government to process their visa applications.

Most refugees who have arrived on Australian soil since the Tampa crisis of last December have been sent to detention centres in PNG and Naura with the Australian government financially supporting those countries in return for their co-operation in what has been dubbed the "Pacific Solution".

Yesterday Prime Minister Mr John Howard and his Immigration Minister Mr Philip Ruddock said the Afghan refugees would be paid to return home where they could help "rebuild" their war-torn country.

Mr Howard is currently on an official visit to the US where he met the interim Afghan leader Mr Hamid Karzai in New York.