Letter Writing – July 2025

July 19, 2025 RAC Admin 2 min read

Dear RAC letter writers,

It is twelve years since on the 19 July 2013, Australia imposed a ban on resettlement in Australia for asylum seekers arriving by boat, and condemned them to offshore detention and processing. International and Australian human rights bodies have long criticised Australia’s offshore program and, as recently as January 2025, the United Nations confirmed that under international law Australia continues to be responsible for the people it sends offshore.

Now, in 2025, approximately 130 people are still trapped in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. In addition, thousands of men, women and children in Australia continue to live in limbo, with no permanent resettlement and limited rights to work, education and health care.

We are (again) calling on the Australian Government to:

immediately medically evacuate to the Australian mainland all those who are critically ill in PNG and Nauru;
provide safe resettlement to all those who are currently or have been held offshore;
abandon the policy of offshore processing.

Because this issue is no longer at the forefront of the news most Australians have assumed it has been resolved. Writing letters to the editor can assist in raising awareness among the public of the urgent need for reform of refugee policy.

I am attaching some very useful letter writing tips from the Refugees Off PNG working group relevant to this topic.

Letters to Editor

The Canberra Times

letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au

City News Magazine

editor@citynews.com.au

The Saturday Paper

letters@thesaturdaypaper.com.au

Sydney Morning Herald

letters@smh.com.au

The Age

letters@theage.com.au