The Australian Government\u2019s interest in the refugee protection measures recommended by the Expert\u00a0Panel on Asylum Seekers has not matched its haste to implement the Panel\u2019s recommendations on\u00a0deterrence, the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) says.\u00a0RCOA CEO Paul Power said that the political debate and the activity within the Parliament since\u00a0Monday\u2019s release of the Expert Panel report had focused almost exclusively on just three of the Expert\u00a0Panel\u2019s 22 recommendations \u2013 those related to re-establishing forced transfers of asylum seekers to\u00a0Nauru and Manus Island.\u00a0Today, RCOA was one of 20 organisations to join former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and seven\u00a0senior academics and lawyers in writing to the Prime Minister to oppose the legislation before the
\nParliament to re-establishing offshore processing of asylum claims. The letter raised serious concerns\u00a0about the human rights implications of the legislation and the absence of any measure to enable\u00a0regular Parliamentary scrutiny of transfer arrangements.\u00a0\u201cThe Refugee Council does not support the Expert Panel\u2019s recommendations about the reestablishment\u00a0of offshore processing but we note that the Panel saw these recommendations as part of\u00a0a package of measures which included critical steps towards improving protection options for refugees
\nwithin Asia,\u201d Mr Power said.\u00a0\u201cWe know that on Monday the Prime Minister and Immigration Minister committed to implementing all\u00a022 recommendations but we have heard little or nothing since about any of the recommendations\u00a0designed to provide refugees with constructive protection alternatives to travelling to Australia by boat.\u00a0\u201cThe quality of the political debate from the Government and Opposition this week yet again leaves\u00a0many Australians despairing about whether our political representatives have the interest or the
\ncapacity to deal with the complex nature of the regional challenges in refugee protection.\u00a0\u201cAustralians \u2013 and the many people across Asia and beyond who are watching our national debate \u2013\u00a0need to hear more detail as soon as possible about Australia\u2019s plans to expand refugee resettlement\u00a0and focus greater attention on regional cooperation and supporting refugee protection.\u201d\u00a0Mr Power said the Australian Government must give details of its strategies to implement the following\u00a0measures recommended by the Expert Panel:
\n\u2022 An immediate increase in the Refugee and Humanitarian Program to 20,000 places and an\u00a0increase to 27,000 places within five years.
\n\u2022 Increased funding for UNHCR to improve processing systems for asylum seekers in Asia and the\u00a0Middle East.
\n\u2022 Increased support for capacity-building and service delivery programs among NGOs and civil\u00a0society groups in the region.
\n\u2022 Focusing Australia\u2019s Refugee and Humanitarian Program on asylum seeker flows moving from\u00a0source countries into South East Asia.
\n\u2022 Regional engagement and cooperation with Indonesia and Malaysia.
\n\u2022 A whole-of-government strategy to engage with source countries for asylum seekers coming to\u00a0Australia, with a focus on increased resettlement from the Middle East and Asia.
\n\u2022 Addressing the current backlog in the Special Humanitarian Program.
\n\u2022 Creating more opportunities for resettlement by promoting coordinated strategies among\u00a0traditional and emerging resettlement countries.
\n\u201cIf the Australian Government is serious about creating incentives for asylum seekers to seek protection\u00a0through established regional systems, it needs to start this work now,\u201d Mr Power said.\u00a0\u201cThat means committing to targets and a timetable to build the Regional Cooperation Framework that\u00a0stands the best chance of improving protections for refugees and asylum seekers in the region and\u00a0ensuring they don\u2019t have to risk their lives at sea to find basic protection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joint letter to the Prime Minister follows this page
\nRCOA\u2019s submission to the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers can be viewed at
\nhttp:\/\/www.refugeecouncil.org.au\/r\/sub\/120720_RCOA.pdf
\nMedia contact: Andrew Williams 0488 035 535<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Australian Government\u2019s interest in the refugee protection measures recommended by the Expert\u00a0Panel on Asylum Seekers has not matched its haste to implement the Panel\u2019s recommendations on\u00a0deterrence, the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) says.\u00a0RCOA CEO Paul Power said that the political debate and the activity within the Parliament since\u00a0Monday\u2019s release of the Expert Panel report had focused almost exclusively on just three of the Expert\u00a0Panel\u2019s 22 recommendations \u2013 those related to re-establishing forced transfers of asylum seekers to\u00a0Nauru and Manus…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[73,65,208,47,215,62,187,74,46],"class_list":["post-787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archived-press-releases","tag-asylum-seekers","tag-department-for-immigration-and-citizenship","tag-expert-panel-on-asylum-seekers","tag-malaysia","tag-manus-island","tag-nauru","tag-offshore-processing","tag-refugees","tag-unhcr","post-has-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"\n