Eight people forcibly returned by Australia in two separate cases in 2015 have been prosecuted and sentenced to between two and three years’ imprisonment for attempting to flee the country to seek asylum. Between them, they have seven children aged between four and 20 years.
The detention and imprisonment of an individual for exercising his/her right to seek asylum are arbitrary and unlawful. The Vietnamese authorities must immediately and unconditionally release the four individuals currently in prison and under house arrest and vacate the convictions of all eight.