Migrants want mistreatment acknowledged

Elderly migrants who for decades were refused Australian citizenship on political grounds are calling for official acknowledgement they were mistreated from the federal government.

Hundreds of migrants who came to Australia under a post-war settlement scheme were denied naturalisation for decades without being given a reason, an SBS investigation has found.

Declassified immigration and ASIO files showed the migrants were recorded as national security risks because of suspected or confirmed associations with the Communist Party of Australia or some migrant community groups.

ASIO, the national spy agency, kept hundreds of migrants and their communities under surveillance for decades and maintained a secret list of thousands earmarked for potential internment and other restrictions because of their political beliefs, the investigation found.

The measures were taken from the 1950s to the 1970s.

The migrants told SBS they suffered severe consequences because of their residency statuses - including being targeted for deportation, criminal charges, restricted travel to their homelands and social exclusion.

The group want acknowledgement they were wrongly treated and a formal apology from the federal government.

Former High Court judge Michael Kirby, who has recently completed a United Nations investigation into human rights in North Korea, says Australia needs to "acknowledge that wrongs were done and to have it expressed in our national parliament".