Why Mr Sisalem is on Manus Island

Your editorial "The moral of the Manus Island story" (13/2), like many reports on this issue, does not reflect the facts.

Seeking asylum isn't about travelling the globe until you find somewhere you would like to settle. It is reasonable to expect an asylum seeker to take the first opportunity they can outside their home country to present their case to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or the relevant national authorities.

The key issue is whether any protection had to be provided to Mr Sisalem in Australia. Papua New Guinea, where he went before coming to Australia and which is also a signatory to the Refugees Convention, was prepared to accept him back and any asylum claims could be addressed in that country.

We have been advised that Mr Sisalem had access to UNHCR refugee determination processes in several other countries before illegally entering Australia. He applied for refugee status in both Indonesia and PNG but did not proceed with either.

After his return to PNG, the UNHCR assessed his case and has now concluded that, because he is a Palestinian, he is entitled to refugee protection. UNHCR will seek resettlement options for him as they do for so many others.

Whether or not he is resettled in Australia is irrelevant. He has had access to a refugee determination process and now has access to appropriate protection as is required under the UN Convention. He would receive no more or less if the process were undertaken in Australia.

Further, it is a ridiculous argument to trot out figures of $1.3 million and daily costs of keeping this man on Manus. The centre is being kept in operational readiness. The fact that the PNG authorities have accommodated him there is incidental to Australia's costs.

Stewart Foster, director of public affairs,Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, Canberra

Cold hearts and gentle people

Stewart Foster's letter (17/2) about the single refugee that we are holding captive on Manus Island is a chilling example of the "skilled careerists" referred to by Marc Purcell: Damaging children, in our name (Opinion, 17/2) who carry out our odious policy of detention.

Foster's focus on bureaucracy and money makes my blood run cold. Has anybody else noticed what we are actually talking about here? Mr Sisalem has been granted refugee status. And yet he has been alone on Manus island since last July, denied asylum by both PNG and Australia.

We should all take a moment to reflect on what we've had the freedom to do since last July: had dinner with friends, gone to work, completed projects, gone to the movies, bought new clothes, cared for our children, gone to the footy, hoped for something, dreamed for something, moped on the couch, celebrated Christmas, kissed someone, touched someone.

But Mr Sisalem has been utterly alone. And The Age shows us his picture (11/2), unbearably forlorn - and yet the talk is all about money and "processes". But concealed in all this is the human being dangling at the end of these processes, a person just like any of us. Only sadder, because Mr Sisalem is actually a refugee, and has experienced things that most of us cannot imagine.

For God's sake, let Mr Sisalem go. Let him back into the human community - grant him asylum in Australia.

Nina Philadelphoff-Puren, St Kilda East

The facts about Aladdin Sisalem

Nina Philadelphoff-Puren's letter (18/2) about Aladdin Sisalem, the Palestinian asylum seeker on Manus Island, ignores the facts of his case. The facts are:

•  Mr Sisalem is a young Palestinian man illegally in PNG for whom the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is actively trying to find a country that will resettle him.

•  He is the responsibility of the PNG Government, not the Australian Government. He has been placed in the Manus facility by the PNG Government.

•  The facility is an offshore processing centre that is owned by the PNG Government and of which Australia has joint use.

•  Mr Sisalem has never engaged Australia's obligations under the 1951 Refugees Convention.

•  He has a long involvement with UNHCR in both Indonesia and PNG. It now considers him a Palestinian refugee because he can't be returned to Kuwait or Egypt.

Misinformation does not help in circumstances like this.

Amanda Vanstone, Minister for Immigration, Canberra

The story behind Vanstone's facts

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone is quite correct that "misinformation does not help" (19/2) when she assembles the facts about Aladdin Sisalem - but she would also know that the devil is in the detail.

Mr Sisalem sought refugee status from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Indonesia in November 2000 and waited for 12 months, penniless and starving on the streets of Jakarta. He then gave up and walked through the jungle to Papua New Guinea, where he again sought asylum. This time he was charged with illegal entry and imprisoned in filthy conditions and beaten. On release from prison, he again found himself homeless on the very dangerous streets of PNG.

His pleas for help to UNHCR rendered no assistance. In December 2002, Mr Sisalem left PNG in a small boat and arrived on Saibai Island. He was taken by Australian immigration authorities to Thursday Island, where he requested asylum - but as we now know from the court case, he did not ask specifically for Form 886 and on this basis the Immigration Department says that a valid claim was not made.

He was then taken to a detention centre for asylum seekers/refugees on Manus Island, PNG, and claims he was informed by the Australian immigration authorities that his asylum application would be processed by them in that detention centre as it belonged to Australian authorities. When the centre was wound down in late July, he was told that he was on PNG territory and that Australia owed him no obligation.

These are the human details behind minister Vanstone's cold, hard facts.

Pamela Curr, Greens national refugee spokeswoman, Brunswick