UK rejects refugee boys' asylum plea

Pair who turned up at British Consulate were on the run from Australian refugee centre

The British Home Secretary Jack Straw rejected the applications of two young boys who sought asylum today in the British Consulate in the southern city of Melbourne, a lawyer said.

Eric Vadarlis said the boys, aged 11 and 13, had been taken from the consulate by Australian federal police to a nearby immigrant detention center.

The boys have been on the run for three weeks since breaking out of the remote Woomera camp after refugee advocates tore down razor wire-topped fences, their father said.

The family claims to be from Afghanistan but the Australian Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock disputed that, saying he has information indicating they are actually from Pakistan. He did not elaborate.

"We are not dealing here with refugees," he said.

The boys arrived early today at the British consulate in Melbourne, some 620 miles south-east of Woomera, accompanied by a woman, Vadarlis said. The woman, who was not an asylum seeker, then left.

Television pictures showed the boys wearing baseball caps and holding backpacks looking at sweets in the consulate's cafeteria.

Mr Vadarlis said the boys had lodged a claim for asylum with the British government.

"They are very, very scared," Mr Vadarlis said. "They know if they step outside the consulate, the police will lock them up. It's a terrible situation."

The boys' father, Ali Baktiyari, who has been in Australia for 18 months on a temporary refugee visa, said he was "really, really happy" that they were safe.

"My children were very upset in the detention center," Mr Baktiyari told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.

Mr Ruddock said moves were under way to revoke Baktiyari's visa because he appeared to be Pakistani and not Afghan.

But Mr Baktiyari said he and his family are genuine Afghan refugees, and he had sat a language test to prove it.

"My culture, my language, my face and my pronunciation shows I'm Afghani," he said.

Mr Vadarlis said the children were in good health but were frightened for their mother and siblings, who were still being held at Woomera.