A Pakistani asylum seeker yesterday launched court action in Melbourne against the Federal Government's decision to bill him $26,000 for his time in mandatory detention.
Lawyers for Shahid Kamran Qureshi, 27, described the conditions in mandatory detention as disgraceful, oppressive and degrading and said that the government had declared "open season" on asylum seekers.
Solicitor Josh Bornstein said the government treated paedophiles better than asylum seekers and that the Federal Court action would be a test case about conditions in detention.
Mr Bornstein, of Maurice Blackburn Cashman, said Mr Qureshi wanted court orders that declared billing asylum seekers unlawful and unconstitutional.
Mr Qureshi spent six months in the Maribyrnong Detention Centre before his release in September last year on a bridging visa.
Two conditions of the visa are that he pay $26,460 and not undertake any paid work.
Mr Bornstein said: "How the hell is my client supposed to pay $26,000 when he's not allowed to work?
"I believe the government is doing this to create a disincentive, obviously, for asylum seekers to re-apply for asylum in (Australia) because there's a section of the Migration Act which says if you have a debt to the Commonwealth, you are not allowed to enter Australia."
He said the court hearing would include detailed evidence about "what goes on inside" mandatory detention centres.
Being ordered not to do paid work was a "classic Catch-22 situation", he said, which "added another obstacle in the path asylum seekers have in this country".
Mr Qureshi is seeking a protection visa on the grounds of religious persecution in Pakistan.
In a number of claims in his action, Mr Qureshi seeks to declare that the demand for payment has no legal basis, is invalid and is unconstitutional.
A spokesman for Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock told The Age that the billing charge was waived if anyone was found to be a refugee.
The Federal Government had a legal obligation to bill asylum seekers for their detention.
"The taxpayer has incurred costs and the law enacted in 1979 requires the government to attempt to recover those costs," the spokesman said.
"However, if someone is assessed as being a refugee, those detention costs are written off."
