Submission to the Australian Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade

Human Rights Watch welcomes the Committee’s focus on safety concerns among diaspora communities and means for strengthening the protection and resilience of vulnerable groups.

Approximately one in four of Australia’s 24 million people were born overseas;[1] 46 percent have at least one parent who was born overseas; and nearly 20 percent of Australians speak a language other than English at home. Australia’s rich, cultural diversity is one of its greatest strengths and is central to its national identity.

In recent years, we have become aware of increasing instances of surveillance, harassment, and intimidation within certain diaspora communities in Australia. Some individuals have contacted Human Rights Watch, unsure of where to turn to, in order to seek advice or report their experiences and concerns. Some have tried to contact police but have felt their experiences were not understood or taken seriously. As authoritarian governments expand their rule globally and within the Asian region, the Australian government should improve its capacity to protect the rights of diaspora communities and call out governments and non-state entities that threaten, harass, or intimidate people residing in Australia or their relatives abroad. Australian foreign policy needs to consistently and vigorously defend human rights. A rise in racist attacks on people of Asian descent during the Covid-19 pandemic also warrants further government action to address racism and xenophobia.

Difficulties experienced by some diaspora communities in Australia

Rwanda

In 2019, the ABC reported on allegations of Rwandan spies working in Australia at the behest of the Kagame government.[2] The men were described as coming to the country as either students or asylum seekers that had been threatened, blackmailed or coerced to become part of the Rwandan intelligence network. Rwandans in Australia reported they were living in fear due to consistent monitoring and threats. One dissident interviewed said that Western Australian police had advised him his life was in danger and he had to move homes and install security cameras. Noel Zihabamwe, a human rights advocate and critic of the Rwandan government now living in Sydney, was interviewed for the ABC report. Despite an attempt to conceal Zihabamwe’s identity, two of his brothers in Rwanda were forcibly disappeared a month after the report aired after police officers reportedly took them off a bus near the Rwandan town of Karangaz. They have not been heard from since and Zihabamwe has said that he believes his brothers were killed in retaliation for his speaking out against the Rwandan government in Australia.[3] The BBC recently reported on a ‘loyalty oath’ ceremony held at the Rwanda UK embassy, designed to instill fear and obedience in the diaspora.[4] Human Rights Watch has documented a pattern of attacks, threats and violence against Rwandan opponents and critics abroad which span nearly two decades.[5]

China and Hong Kong

Human Rights Watch is aware of several cases of Chinese students in Australia who were monitored or “reported on” by fellow classmates for comments that were critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in class or online whilst studying in Australia. Knowledge about these incidents then quickly circulated through the community spreading fear and self-censorship. “If you protest against the CCP abroad they will find people you love and hurt them to make you pay,” a 23-year-old University of New South Wales law student from China recently told Human Rights Watch. Pressure from the Chinese government comes in numerous ways, including monitoring discussion topics on the popular communication app WeChat, putting students from China under surveillance, and threatening those who participate in protests or events China deems sensitive. Pro-CCP students have launched complaints about academics and students that have taken actions to “offend” China which has a chilling effect about classroom discussions on topics deemed sensitive like Xinjiang or Hong Kong.

Chinese students have also identified their concerns to Human Rights Watch over the Chinese Students and Scholars Association and the group’s alleged close ties to the Chinese embassy and consulates.[6] Chinese Australians have also spoken out about perceived surveillance by Chinese diplomats in Australia, with community members in Perth reporting that Chinese consular officials were spotted monitoring and filming a Tiananmen Square commemoration event from the sidelines in June 2020.[7]

Members of Australia’s ethnic Uyghur community have also documented fears that their political activities in Australia are being monitored by the CCP and that their relatives in China have been singled out for detention and harsh treatment as a result of their activism in Australia.[8] Human Rights Watch is aware of several incidents in which Uyghur Australians have received calls from relatives in Xinjiang who have specifically asked about their Australian activities, apparently at the request from local police and under duress. In at least one case, a Uyghur Australian was threatened over the phone by someone claiming to be a Chinese police officer.

Human Rights Watch has received reports from several Hong Kong people in Australia who described how their fellow students or unknown persons threatened to report them to CCP authorities after they participated in pro-democracy demonstrations in Australia.

Ethiopia

In 2016, officials in Ethiopia’s Somali region arrested and detained dozens of relatives of Ethiopians who participated in a Melbourne protest against the visit of an Ethiopian regional government delegation. Human Rights Watch interviewed 10 members of the Ethiopian Somali community in Australia who reported that at least 32 family members had been arrested in Ethiopia after their involvement in the protest.[9] “I don’t feel safe here,” one of those interviewed said. “I thought I was safe. To be in Australia and be scared all the time, it doesn’t go together.” One of the released detainees told his relative in Australia that security personnel hit him every night. He said his interrogators told him: “If you want to be released, you have to talk to [your relative] about support[ing] the government.”

Several protesters said that supporters of the Somali region’s government in Australia called or personally confronted them in the days following the arrests and pressed them to make a video pledging support for the region’s leader to secure the release of their relatives. At least three members of Australia’s Ethiopian Somali community did this. One man described pleas from his family members: “If you do not record something, they will kill us.”

Threatening demands for video apologies was a regular tactic of the Somali Regional State government, Human Rights Watch said. People from Somali Regional State who live in the United States, Canada, and northern Europe have described similar networks and tactics by pro-government supporters there. In Ethiopia, following a change of government, the Somali region leader who visited Australia in 2016 is now in custody facing charges for abuses.

Vietnam

The arrest in January 2019 of 70-year-old Australian citizen Van Kham Chau in Ho Chi Minh City over allegations regarding his work for a Sydney-based Vietnamese political party, Viet Tan, which operates openly and lawfully in many countries including Australia, but which Hanoi arbitrarily labels “terrorist,” have had a chilling effect for some members of the Australian Vietnamese community and raised fears of monitoring by Vietnam’s government within Australia. When Chau appeared in court in November 2019, authorities submitted a 21-page indictment, which described his alleged dealings with the Australian-based organization and detailing his work in a senior position in the organization as secretary of the Sydney chapter.[10] Chau was convicted and is serving a 12-year prison sentence.

Cambodia

In 2018, ABC’s Four Corners exposed how Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) was aggressively recruiting supporters in Australia and threatened others for speaking out against the government.[11] Later that year, the ABC documented that Cambodian students in Australia received threats after speaking out against the CPP while studying here.[12] One student told the ABC he received threats from other students after criticizing the government online and that police back home questioned his family members, who also received a death threat. Four Cambodian Australians told the ABC that Hun Sen supporters had threatened them with death. Cambodians in Australia report continued online harassment from Hun Sen supporters.

Saudi Arabia

In 2019, ABC’s Four Corners documented that Saudi men living in Australia harassed and intimidated female Saudi asylum seekers, trying to coerce them into returning home.[13] The ABC established that one of the men harassing Saudi women in Australia worked for the Saudi Ministry of Interior. 

Eritrea

In 2014, members of Australia’s Eritrean community reported being forced to pay a two percent “diaspora” income tax to the Eritrean consulate in Melbourne,[14] a common practice enforced within the Eritrean diaspora community globally.[15] The tax and the intimidation reported around its enforcement has previously been condemned by the United Nations Security Council.

Rise in racism against people of Asian decent

Human Rights Watch also notes the surge in cases of racial abuse and attacks against people of Asian descent reported across Australia and elsewhere during the Covid-19 pandemic. A survey focusing on Covid-19-related racism against Asians and Asian-Australians recorded 178 incidents during the first two weeks of April countrywide.[16] The survey, by the community group Asian Australian Alliance, received about 12 reports a day, ranging from racial slurs to physical assault.[17] The majority of racist incidents reported – 62 percent – were against women. Australia’s Human Rights Commission reported a spike in complaints about racist attacks.[18] The Australian National University created a “prejudice census” to better collect information about the surge of incidents linked to Covid-19.[19] Government officials and politicians also should not contribute to racism and xenophobia by using language – such as occurred at a committee hearing of this inquiry in October – that would appear to question the loyalty of Australians of Asian descent.[20]

Experience of other jurisdictions

In 2006, Human Rights Watch researched the impact of Sri Lanka’s secessionist armed group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in intimidating and extorting money from the Tamil diaspora in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.[21] In the wake of those revelations, Canada banned fundraising for the LTTE and the LTTE-linked World Tamil Movement in Canada.[22] Law enforcement officials in Canada, home to the largest population of Sri Lankan Tamils outside their country, convened community meetings with members of the Tamil diaspora to better understand the harassment they were experiencing, to build trust, and to encourage Tamil Canadians to file official complaints.

Canada is also currently wrestling with calls to take new steps to counter foreign interference with members of some diaspora communities complaining that their reports regarding harassment were bouncing from one law enforcement organization to another.[23] In November 2020, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service warned that the Chinese government routinely used undercover state security officials and proxies to target members of Canada’s Chinese community in an effort to silence critics of President Xi Jinping, including threats of retribution against their families back in China.[24]

Steps taken to address foreign interference in Australia and current gaps

The Australian government has already taken some significant steps to address foreign interference.[25] These include new laws to criminalize foreign interference against Australian citizens,[26] the establishment of the National Counter Foreign Interference Coordinator at the Department of Home Affairs, and the Commander Counter Foreign Interference and Special Investigations at the Australian Federal Police alongside new efforts to coordinate outreach and enhance engagement with culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Despite these efforts, many communities are still not aware of these efforts, and therefore still do not know who to turn to when such incidents occur. For these actions to be truly successful, the rights and safety of those affected need to be at the center of the government’s efforts to counter foreign interference. Relevant government departments working in this area also should acknowledge the lack of trust many vulnerable diaspora communities have towards law enforcement and other government agencies.

Recommendations

Human Rights Watch recommends that the Australian government take the following actions to address safety concerns among diaspora communities and strengthen the protection and resilience of vulnerable groups:

1. Ensure that investigators within the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Home Affairs tasked with investigating foreign interference also document and investigate the scale of harassment, intimidation, and surveillance of diaspora communities and release annual reports disclosing the extent and type of intimidation that diaspora groups have faced, and which groups are targeted. 
2. Ensure that the Commander Counter Foreign Interference and Special Investigations at the AFP and the National Counter Foreign Interference Coordinator strengthen their engagement with diaspora communities targeted by foreign governments.
3. Ensure law enforcement at state and federal level recruit people from diaspora communities or with relevant language skills and cultural awareness.
4. Initiate an interagency Diaspora Communities taskforce, working across the AFP, Home Affairs, and the Human Rights Commission that would also include community leaders from diaspora communities targeted by foreign governments. This taskforce should meet regularly to discuss patterns of intimidation and harassment, and hold public meetings to identify concerns, responses, and steps that are being taken to protect members of the community.
5. Create a public education campaign, run by the Home Affairs department, targeting relevant communities, using local language newspapers, radio, and other media, to publicize relevant law related to intimidation, harassment, and steps that individuals can take if they are subject to such activity.
6. Establish a special encrypted hotline and web portal, staffed by speakers of relevant languages, to receive complaints of intimidation and extortion, and provide information as appropriate to law enforcement authorities.
7. Create a new National Anti-Racism Strategy to be carried out by the Australian Human Rights Commission and other programs to counter the online organization of racist and anti-migrant extremism.
8. Raise human rights concerns publicly as well as and privately with abusive governments since raising rights issues privately is rarely effective without public pressure. Include allegations of intimidation, harassment, or surveillance of diaspora communities.
9. Enact legislation to allow targeted sanctions against serious human rights violators abroad.[27] Such a law should be similar to Magnitsky-style legislation enacted in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It would authorize targeted sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes, against people implicated in serious human rights violations.
10. Urge Australian universities to adopt a code of conduct such as Human Rights Watch’s 12-point Code Of Conduct to protect students and academics from Chinese government threats to the academic freedom of students, scholars, and educational institutions.[28] These include publicly committing to supporting academic freedom and freedom of expression through public statements at the highest institutional levels, rejecting Chinese government-controlled Confucius Institutes, monitoring Chinese government-linked organizations, promoting academic freedom of students and scholars from China, and disclosing all Chinese government funding.