GENERAL APPEAL (Australia): Shocking new reforms proposed to prevent asylum seekers arriving by boat from seeking asylum in Australia 

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concerned by the legal reforms proposed by the Australian Government to excise all of Australia from undocumented asylum seekers who arrive by boat.

In January 2006, 43 West Papuan asylum seekers arrived in Australia by boat. The Australian government granted temporary protection visas to 42, creating a sea of controversy between the Indonesian and Australian Governments that led to Jakarta recalling its Ambassador to Australia. In an attempt to dull the furor and kowtow to Indonesia, the Australian government has proposed new changes to Australian law, which deny all asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat the right to seek asylum in Australia.

Australia has already tightened maritime surveillance of Australia northern waters, involving defence and customs aircraft and ships, to either repel or relocate all vessels carrying asylum seekers. Under the proposed laws, all asylum seekers who succeed in arriving by boat will be taken to offshore processing centres and, upon determination of their refugee status, remain offshore until resettlement to a third country is arranged. As the asylum seekers will be kept offshore, they will have no access to the Australian legal system or to any legal assistance. (See http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media_releases/media06/v06048.htm)

Australia is a party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention) however the proposed reforms are in complete contravention to the intent of the convention and completely lack compassion for the plight of asylum seekers, who are forced to flee their homes due to fear of death, torture, arbitrary detention and various methods of persecution.

The new laws, which have already been approved by Australia’s Cabinet (the Ministers and Prime Minister), are due to be considered by both houses of the Australian Parliament between May 9 and 11. The Government currently holds a majority in both houses of Parliament. Therefore, in order to stop the new laws from coming into force, some Government members of Parliament must vote in accordance with their own conscience and against their own party in Parliament and all non-Government members of Parliament must vote against the new bill.

BACKGROUND

Australia only provides asylum for 12,000 people each year, placing it behind 31 other countries, including developing countries such as Pakistan and Iran. These small numbers can be attributed to the Australian Government’s continuing policy of disdain, neglect and exclusion towards asylum seekers who attempt to seek refugee status on its shores.

All asylum seekers who arrive in Australia without a valid visa are deemed to be unlawful non-citizens under the Migration Act 1958 and are immediately detained by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Australia. The majority of asylum seekers entering Australia arrive by air, however a small number of asylum seekers do risk their lives in the waters north of Australia to arrive in the country. Those asylum seekers who arrive in Australia on a valid visa are free to live in the community while they submit their application for a protection visa and have their refugee status determined, while the remainder (including all boat arrivals) are placed in detention centres.

In 2001 the MV Tampa, laden with 438 asylum seekers it had rescued from a dilapidated Indonesian fishing boat, was initially denied permission to unload its occupants by the Australian and Indonesian Government, leaving the ship and its human cargo to suffer as they awaited a decision. In response to the Tampa ‘situation the Australian Government instigated legal changes which excised the waters north of the Australian mainland, including inhabited Australian islands such as Christmas Island. This has removed the ability of asylum seekers who enter Australian waters, or reach its islands, from exercising their rights under Australian law because they are no longer deemed to be within Australia. The Australian Government also provided economic incentives to Papua New Guinea and the tiny Pacific-island nation of Nauru to detain asylum seekers within make-shift, isolated, facility-deficient camps while they were processed. This policy, known as the ‘Pacific Solution placed asylum seekers in legal limbo: without access to the Australian legal system, without access to legal assistance and subject to the whim of the Australian Government.

Five years later, two Iraqi men from the Tampa remain in detention on Nauru waiting for a final decision by the Immigration Department.

The Australian Government spends 1.8 million Australian dollars (USD 1,338,000) annually to maintain an empty Manus Island facility on Papua New Guinea, 1 million dollars (USD 774,000) monthly to maintain the lock-up on Nauru, 700,000 dollars (USD 520,000) to transport the recent West Papuan asylum seekers to Christmas Island, and nearly 1 billion dollars (USD 774 million) annually on detention, transportation and deportation of asylum seekers on Australian shores.

Despite the substantial allocation of funds towards detention centres, detention centres remain isolated, ill-equipped prison-like facilities. Contrary to articles 3 and 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which enshrines the rights to liberty and freedom from arbitrary detention, asylum seekers are kept in indefinite detention, causing continuing physical and mental distress. In addition, many children are detained without protection, contrary to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As a result, many asylum seekers, who have often suffered severe trauma in the country from which they are fleeing, begin to suffer from mental illnesses and often resort to self-harm. Some asylum seekers have reached levels of such desperation that they have taken to hunger striking and sewing their mouths together in an attempt to force the Government into action. The Australian Government policy of detention is not just a deterrent to future asylum seekers; it is a method of breaking the spirit of those in detention so that they abandon their claims and can be deported quickly. Under Article 31 of the Refugee Convention the Australian Government is not permitted to penalise refugees due to their illegal entry or presence in Australia. Nevertheless, until very recently, the Australian Government has kept people in detention, in isolated locations onshore and offshore, for extended periods of time without processing their claims for the very purpose of penalising people for their attempts to seek asylum in Australia. It is estimated that over 200 asylum seekers have been detained in Immigration facilities (in Australia and offshore) for more than 18 months, with some in detention for six years.

Much-publicised reforms to reduce the time in which claims are processed and to remove families from detention have resulted in little change. The Immigration Department is now obliged to process all asylum seekers within three months and to place families on Bridging Visas and release them into the community. In regards to the new time limit, there has been no increase to funding for the Department and, thus, no provision to ensure that applicants receive fair process. Thus, the Immigration Department has a greater opportunity to dismiss protection claims without due consideration.

For those asylum seekers who are not placed in detention, life in the community is still not easy. Ninety percent of Asylum Seekers in the community receive no support of any kind from the Federal Government. This leaves asylum seekers without the right to access public housing, university education, government allowances, government-funded English lessons, the government-funded Job Network or any federally-funded programmes. Over half of these asylum seekers are on a Bridging Visa E, which also denies them the ability to access government-subsidized medical services and the right to work. For those who are released from detention, they are dumped at the detention centre gates and left to a similar fate. Thus, asylum seekers are left on the streets, without food or the funds to provide for themselves or their families and have to rely on charitable organisations to provide for their daily needs.

Unfortunately, the situation of asylum seekers will only worsen if the proposed new reforms, which are anticipated to broaden the existing ‘Pacific Solution are passed by the Australian Parliament next month. The new laws illustrate an appalling dereliction by Australia of its duties under the Refugee Convention.

The Australian Government justifies the automatic detention of asylum seekers and the ‘Pacific Solution as a tough yet necessary approach to deter people smugglers and their clients. It is apparent by the existing laws and the new proposed laws that the Australian Government is deliberately applying all means at its disposal to stop asylum seekers from claiming asylum and resettling in Australia. This is completely contrary to the spirit of the Refugee Convention, which states, under Article 33, that parties to the Convention are not permitted to repel or expel (refoule) refugees to countries where their life or freedom will be endangered.

SUGGESTED ACTION

Please send letters to the local members of Parliament and urge them to vote against the proposed laws. Please urge them to consider the plight of asylum seekers and to treat all people who seek asylum in Australia in accordance with Australia’s international obligations.

 

 

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