25.9.15
Dear
Prime Minister,
It
was deeply depressing to listen to you on Radio National on 23rd September,
telling the nation that "there will be no resettlement of the people on
Manus and Nauru in Australia".
The
government has gone to great lengths to maintain a veil of secrecy around the
treatment of asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru, and it is clear that there is
much to hide. The available evidence
from a number of reliable sources paints a picture of people living in fear and
despair, in wretched conditions and with the ever-present threat of physical
and sexual abuse. These people, who include some 90 children, have committed no
crime and yet they find themselves locked away indefinitely, far from the
public gaze and with little access to legal and other professional advice. We
don't treat convicted criminals like this. These asylum seekers are our
responsibility, and this is not the way that a wealthy, first-world nation
should treat some of the world's most vulnerable people. What the government is
doing in our name is neither humane, morally defensible nor compatible with our
international obligations. It is simply
not acceptable for you to assert that "you could say it is a harsh policy,
but it has worked". Locking up children indefinitely in such appalling
conditions can never be justified. They cannot be used as the "price"
to be paid for deterring asylum seekers from seeking safety on our shores.
I
do hope that, in the weeks ahead, you will indeed pay "close
attention" to the current policy and that your government will quickly
bring to an end this shameful chapter in our nation's history. These offshore
detention centres, which are costing Australian taxpayers billions of dollars to maintain,
should be closed as a matter of urgency and those detainees who are found to be
entitled to protection under international law should be resettled in
Australia.
Yours
sincerely,
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