- Target:
- Parliament of Australia
- Region:
- Australia
"We have boundless plains to share" according to our national anthem - but apparently just not with refugees.
Australians pride themselves on a 'fair go' for all. Yet Australia is contemplating a new draconian system for processing refugee applications that will not 'solve the refugee problem' and shows zero mercy or compassion for the light of desperate people and their families seeking safe refuge from war and persecution.
What do we know about PNG? Well, according to Smart Traveller, it has high levels of serious crime and cholera is endemic. There is no infrastructure in place to accommodate the refugees, and it's main attraction seems to be the 'out of sight out of mind' factor for voters.
To be clear, refugees are not 'illegals', they come here lawfully because Australia is a signatory to the Refugee Convention courtesy of Robert Menzies. Contrary to recent statements, most refugees are not economic migrants, and over 90% are found to be genuine refugees under Australian law. And on that topic, the refugees coming here by boat are a but a subset of the refugees that apply to Australia each year. They come here on those leaky boats because they know it takes on average 10-20+ years for their applications to be processed in camps in Asia and they have no hope for themselves or their families. Whilst they are in those camps, often without any proper services or sanitation, they have no rights, their children can't get an education, they can't work. In that situation, often suffering anxiety and depression, wouldn't you at least think about making the journey too?
Neither the current Labor proposal, or the Liberals 'Stop the Boats', offer real workable solutions, they are half-hearted measures to buy votes by treating voters like mugs. Under Tony Abbots so-called solution, Jesus Christ and his family would have been turned away instead of finding a a safe place to hide from their persecutors. Similarly, instead of safely crossing the Alps, the von Trapp family would have been doomed. These are 2 extreme examples, but they illustrate the point that there has to be a better way to treat refugees that we can square with our consciences. If it was your family or child, what would you do?
We, the undersigned, call on the Parliament of Australia to set aside political point-scoring, to come together and work constructively to find a better way forward to process and assess the people arriving on Australia's shores by boat to claim refugee status.
We do not want to give support to people smugglers. However, Australia's legal obligations to refugees should not be outsourced to countries that are unable to properly fulfill those obligations.
Instead, a way forward must include regional dialogue and cooperation, and a significant boost to the processing of refugees in camps in Australia, so that the journey to Australia by boat is less attractive and applications are processed in a reasonable timeframe and in accordance with the spirit and letter of the law.
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The Not in my name: A fair go for refugees petition to Parliament of Australia was written by L D'souza and is in the category Human Rights at GoPetition.