An Afghan asylum seeker who fears for his life if returned home is to be forcibly deported from Australia, the first such case under a new deal with Kabul, the government said Tuesday. Ismail Mirza Jan, 26 and of the Hazara ethnic minority, fled Afghanistan 10 years ago and made his way to Australia via Pakistan, Iran, Greece and Britain, where he was refused refugee status in 2004. He failed to disclose his British rejection when he arrived in Australia in February 2010 on false documents, claiming he had come directly from Afghanistan, the Sydney Morning Herald said.
A fingerprint trace revealed his earlier application, leading to the ultimate failure of his Australian asylum bid. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said Jan would be the first forced return under a deal struck in January with Kabul. “Never before today has there been an involuntary return from Australia to Afghanistan so this underlines the importance of today,” Bowen told reporters. “Without today’s agreement it would be impossible to contemplate involuntary repatriation to Afghanistan.” The deal allows Australia to forcibly deport Afghans whose claims for asylum have failed, and it was signed off as part of efforts to curb the thousands of refugees arriving here from the strife-torn central Asian nation.