Letter Writing – Refugee Policy and Politics
Firstly, a must-read: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/01/the-australian-detention-system-was-established-to-destroy-us-but-we-refugees-are-still-here
With so many awful things happening in Australian refugee policy and politics, I struggle to know where to begin or what to say. The last few weeks in Parliament have shown that when it comes to immigration policy, the Albanese Labor government clearly rejects the strategy of “when your opponents go low, you go high”.
1. The most notable example of this is the government’s response to the recent High Court decision that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful and unconstitutional. As a result of this decision, 140 people have been released from immigration detention in the last few weeks. There has been much hysterical rhetoric and fearmongering by both the Coalition and the Government about the risk to community safety posed by the released detainees -most of which is quite unfounded. Details of the circumstances of all the released detainees has not been made public. What is known, however, is that: 1) all of them had been detained because their visas were cancelled; 2) they were technically awaiting deportation but, for a variety of reasons, have no realistic possibility of being deported; 3) some, but not all, of them had had their visas cancelled because of their criminal record; 4 those who had been charged with crimes in Australia would have gone through the same criminal justice processes as any other offender; 5) those who had been given a prison sentence would have gone to prison, and at the end of their term been released into the community subject to the same conditions (such as parole, supervision, electronic monitoring etc) as any other offender being released from prison.There is no justification for assuming that these detainees are a greater threat to community safety than any other ex-prisoners. To refer to all of the individuals released through the High Court decision as ‘hardened criminals’ is simply untrue and grossly misleading.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Immigration Minister Giles have loudly and repeatedly boasted that they will do whatever it takes to get around the High Court ruling and enforce “the toughest” conditions on all people released from immigration detention as a result of the High Court ruling. Although they say that this is because of their concerns about ‘community safety’, the legislation that has been rushed through Parliament imposes extremely restrictive conditions on all people in the cohort, with no assessment of individuals’ actual threat to community safety. The legislation being proposed to be introduced in Parliament this week will establish a special Preventative Detention regime which would allow the government to re-detain people who have been released. Minister O’Neil insists that the Preventative Detention legislation must be passed before Parliament rises for the year on Thursday- another very serious piece of legislation expected to be rushed through Parliament. Minister O’Neil has stated that her preference is to see all the people back in locked detention, regardless of whether they have any criminal record at all.
Yet again, immigration policy is being used for base political purposes with little or no respect for the rule of law, separation of powers, human rights and the lives of the people effected. Please phone or write our Labor MPs and Senator, as well as Senator David Pocock who is supporting the Government’s position and legislation, expressing your concerns about Labor’s response to the High Court decision, and demanding more rational and considered approach to immigration policy.
For further background see https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/australian-immigration-and-asylum
ACT region MPs and Senators:
senator.katy.gallagher@aph.gov.au;
senator.david.pocock@aph.gov.au
2. Another critical issue is the government’s intransigence in continuing to deny any responsibility for the men remaining in PNG. Having suffered ten years of detention and brutal treatment after being sent to PNG by the Australian government for ‘immigration processing’, the remaining 62 men are again experiencing a humanitarian crisis. They are currently being evicted from their housing and denied access to all sources of support, including food and medical care. This is because the service providers and businesses in PNG who have been providing the accommodation and support services to the refugees have not been paid for over 12 months. Despite having ample evidence of the severe state of many of the men’s physical and mental health, requests for medical evacuation to Australia are being denied.
Please respond to the ASRC’s call for urgent action to help these men still stranded in PNG. For further background see:
- https://asrc.org.au/2023/11/21/australian-government-must-act-now-to-evacuate-exiled-refugees-facing-immediate-homelessness-and-destitution-in-png/
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/17/refugees-in-png-told-they-will-be-evicted-next-week-after-australian-sponsored-housing-bills-not-paid
- https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/25/unjust-and-cruel-lack-of-clarity-still-hangs-over-64-refugees-exiled-in-png
3. Please sign Independent MP Kylie Tink’s petition calling for a Royal Commission into Immigration Detention. This is a House of Representatives e-petition. The closing date for signatures is 13 December. Please note that when you sign the e-petition, your name will not be added to the petition unless you confirm your signature by responding to the email you will be sent.
From the petition: We believe it is time to shine a light into the darkness of Australia’s immigration detention regime. Between 2001 and present day, tens of thousands of people seeking Australia’s protection have been held in immigration camps that are now privatised, offshore, and beyond the reach of Australia’s courts and most of the media. During this period there have been at least 37 cases of suicide related to immigration detention, allegations of torture, the systemic abuse of men and women, and numerous articles and papers on the devastating impact of this privatised detention model. It is estimated this regime has cost Australian tax payers over $9.65 billion from July 2013 to the 2021-2022 financial year. Numerous investigations have revealed a system beyond the reach of national or human rights oversight. This lack of transparency, the legal fiction of these camps being the responsibility of PNG and Nauru, and a lethal disinterest in the wellbeing of those held in detention has created untold suffering for those detained and those tasked with caring from them in detention.
If the refugees who have suffered so much can remain strong and willing to fight for justice and decent government policy (see reference to Guardian article by Behrouz Boochani at beginning of this email), then so must we. Thank you for your persistence and continued support for justice for refugees in Australia.
