Dear Ms Plibersek,
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my email. I followed the asylum debate at the Labor Party Conference and I was impressed by a number of the speakers, who addressed the issues with passion and conviction. I acknowledge that there are some key differences between the policies of the ALP and the Coalition on the issue and I agree with you that the debate in Australia has lost rationality, compassion and respect. However, it is surely important to acknowledge that the Labor Party has played a key role in this race to the bottom.
You state that the Labor Party has made a commitment to double the refugee intake to 27,000 by 2025, but that is a decade and many Federal elections away, yet the crisis of people fleeing their countries because of war and persecution is here and now.
It is deeply dispiriting that, on a day-to-day basis, the Labor Opposition is largely quiet on the plight of asylum seekers languishing on Nauru and Manus islands. In spite of the cloak of secrecy, it is increasingly evident that children and their families on Nauru are suffering unspeakable treatment at the hands of those who are paid to protect them. The government hides behind a raft of legal and procedural measures, which seek to avoid its responsibilities and to keep the Australian public in the dark. The Labor Opposition’s responses to the emerging evidence of abuse is at best muted, and that’s just not good enough. Why is it that we have to rely on the sole voice of Sarah Hanson Young, who battles valiantly on a daily basis to try to bring the Government to account? Where are the passionate Labor voices in parliament and in the media?
Richard Marles has stated frequently that we need to get children out of detention, but when pressed on the issue after the Labor conference, the best he could offer was that we need the international community to take responsibility. Does that mean more dirty deals with corrupt and impoverished nations who will be paid large sums of Australian taxpayers’ money to take ourasylum seekers? That is neither fair, compassionate or principled. It is time to bite the bullet and resettle genuine asylum seekers in Australia.
I do hope that the Labor Party will at some stage in the near future rediscover its roots and will once again have the courage to advocate unequivocally for the poor and the dispossessed in our world.
Yours sincerely,
Mike Griffin
Perspective on the world problem for asylum seekers
Letter from Marlene
Dear RAR members,
Our Australian Government thinks it has a problem in relation to refugee numbers. To get these numbers into perspective lets think for a moment about the numbers of refugees fleeing into Europe this year .
Reports this week from ‘ The Atlantic’ state that the number of migrants fleeing into Europe during this year alone has already reached 235,000, topping the total number of migrants for all of last year, 219,000.
The International Organization for Migration estimated that number will grow to at least a quarter of a million by the end of August.
Nearly half of these refugees are Syrians fleeing war at home, escaping into Turkey, and paying smugglers to help them make a dangerous crossing to the Greek island of Kos in tiny inflatable rafts.
Once on European soil, they make their way north any way they can, on foot or by rail, with help or on their own, passing through Macedonia, Serbia, and Hungary bound for Austria, Germany, France, England, and other Western European countries.
The influx of migrants is placing huge burdens on all nations along the route, especially Greece, which has seen a 750-percent increase in arrivals over the same period as last year. To view photos you can follow the link below.
It is time our leaders developed a realistic perspective on these issues and developed their policies accordingly. Tony Abbot wants Australia to be a ‘world player’ so let us see some evidence of this in dealing with this pressing and devastating problem on the international stage.
No comments:
Post a Comment