Labor for Refugees is deeply disappointed that the Prime Minister’s “Expert Panel” has continued to buy the falsehood that refugees are queue jumpers. That misguided and mischievous lie permeates all aspects of the report. The ‘Expert’ Panel says “those who continue to choose irregular maritime voyages to Australia to claim asylum should not be advantaged for doing so over those who pursue regular mechanism”. No real expert in the field of refugees could seriously believe that there is any “regular mechanism” for refugees. For example, Australia has only provided resettlement of 56 people per year from Indonesia between 2001 and 2010. Only 24 were resettled in the first 5 months of this year. The Panel’s resort to punishment for those fleeing persecution is wrong and misguided. Indeed, Nauru or Papua New Guinea will have no deterrent effect – for the asylum seeker they will always be preferable to the death camps at home. The recommendation that those arriving by boat should not have access to family reunion is to punish those genuine refugees who arrive on our shores by guaranteeing family separation for ever. Imagine a child finally escaping the Taliban only to be told they cannot help their sisters or mother to come to safety and to be reunited. This is desperately cruel.
It is also against Article 157 of the Labor Party Platform which states:
Labor will ensure that asylum seekers who arrive by irregular means will not be punished for their mode of arrival.
It is also against Article 31 of the Refugee Convention itself. Fundamentally, the Panel has simply not understood that seeking asylum is not and has never been illegal. It is guaranteed by Australia’s long standing commitment to never turn away those refugees who arrive on our shore and seek our help. We made that commitment so that people who arrived on our shores would never again be sent home to their deaths and could rebuild their lives in safety. The Panel has missed a moment in history to stand up for the Convention and has been seduced by the stale rhetoric on punishing those who come here for safety – as they are legally entitled to do.
Shane Prince
02 9334 3315
0416 229 338
Robin Rothfield
03 9486 5973
Mob 0418 338 665