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Australia investigates claims that rejected Afghan asylum seekers were killed by Taliban

[Guardian unlimited World]

The Australian government today said it would investigate reports that up to 20 rejected asylum seekers from Afghanistan were killed after returning to their home country.Under the former government of John Howard, around 400 asylum seekers were denied entry to Australia and told it was safe for them to return home. Their fates were traced by the Edmund Rice Centre humanitarian agency, which says it has documentary evidence that nine were killed by the Taliban. The organisation estimates that a further 11 people also died.The Australian immigration minister, Chris Evans, told the Sydney Morning Herald he was "taking the claims very seriously". Evans has asked for more information about the controversial process of detaining asylum seekers on the Pacific island of Nauru. The so-called Pacific solution policy was scrapped by the Labor prime minister, Kevin Rudd.The Edmund Rice Centre said other asylum seekers rejected under the policy had been forced into hiding in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Its investigation is featured in a documentary, entitled A Well-Founded Fear, to be broadcast next month.The documentary includes the story of Gholam Payador, who was sent back to Afghanistan in 2002. Payador holds up a photograph, taken on Nauru, of himself and two other people, both of whom are now dead, according to the Herald.The former immigration minister Philip Ruddock accepted that mistakes may have been made.However, he added: "The [UN] refugee convention does not say you cannot be returned to a dangerous place."The fact that somebody might tragically dies may well be as tragic as a road accident in Sydney."AustraliaAfghanistanguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds