Detainees may receive compensation claims
In Australia Ombudsman John McMillan discovered a series of findings on the wrongful detention of 247 Australian citizens, lawful visa holders and permanent residents between 1993 – 2007. As a result, the immigration department believes they will have to
compensate for wrongful detention up to191 of the 247 people investigated by the commonwealth ombudsman.
This announcement came after lawyer Robyn Bicket from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship stated that the department had finished reviewing all those cases. Bicket stated: “Currently we are at 191 cases we believe there is risk of legal liability for compensation and 56 cases where we believe there is no compensatable risk involved.” She furthered: “The total payout of compensation of 07/08 was in the order of $4.1 million.”
The highest compensation claim awarded was to Cornelia Rau, who was detained wrongfully.Updated on 22/10/2008