9.12.14
Dear Senator
Xenophon,
I was
dismayed to learn that you voted for the government's Marine and Maritime Powers amendments in the
Senate last week. I realise that you may have felt under immense pressure to
support the bill, given that the Minister for Immigration had cynically linked
its passage to the release of children from detention on Christmas Island. It saddens me greatly that you caved
in to this bullying tactic.
You know as
well as I that there was nothing in the
amendments relating to the release of children in detention, and that
the government could have chosen to release all children and their families
from detention at any time since coming to office.
You have now
passed into law a most shameful piece of legislation, which gives the Minister
for Immigration unprecedented, unchallengeable and secret powers to determine
the fate of individual asylum seekers.
You have removed all references to the
Refugee Convention from the legislation, notwithstanding the fact that
Australia is a signatory. You have decided that Australia can now flout its
international obligations with its "new, independent and self-contained
statutory framework".
You must be well aware that you have given powers to
the government which will enable it to return asylum seekers to places where
they have been, or will likely be, persecuted, tortured or worse.
You must
also know that the reinstatement of TPVs is a backward step. As in the past,
placing vulnerable, traumatised asylum seekers in limbo, for purely political
ends, will cause serious damage to their mental health and wellbeing. Last time
round, more than 90% of asylum seekers on TPVs were ultimately granted
permanent protection, but the cost of attempting to repair their damaged lives
has been immense.
Why repeat the same mistakes?
The passing
of this legislation was a very dark day for asylum seekers, for the upholding
of human rights and for our international obligations. We should all hang our
heads in shame.
Yours
sincerely,
Mike
No comments:
Post a Comment