letter to Minister Dutton, copy to Hartsuyker October 2 2017

_From: Mike

_{Sent: Monday, October 2, 2017 2:33 PM}

_{To: Peter Dutton}

_{Cc: Luke (MP) Hartsuyker}

_{Subject: Refugees heading for the US}

_{Dear Mr Dutton,}

_{I read with utter disbelief and anger the comments that  you made in conversation with your friend Ray Hadley last week in relation to the group of refugees from Manus and Nauru who were setting off on their journey to freedom and security in the US. You were fully aware that all of these people had been assessed as genuine refugees under the 1951 refugee convention and that they were therefore entitled to our protection. You know that there is no such category under the convention as an “economic refugee”. Your comments, therefore, are clearly aimed at distorting the truth and are highly irresponsible. Your attempt to portray the hell-holes in which these refugees have been corralled  for the past four years as some kind of holiday camp simply beggars belief. The reality is very different, as you well know.}

_{The $10 billion of taxpayers’ money that the government has spent over the past four years has resulted in untold suffering for many of these people, who have fled violence and war in their own countries and who have risked their lives to seek safety for themselves and their families, as is their right under international law. On Nauru and Manus island, under your watch, they have encountered physical violence, murder, rape and sexual abuse, medical neglect leading to death, enormous mental health damage, attempted suicides and self-harm. All this is well documented, in spite of your efforts to avoid public scrutiny.}

_{I do hope that one day you will be held to account for all the suffering that you have deliberately inflicted on these asylum seekers who  came seeking our help, but found the door shut in their faces.}

_{Yours sincerely,}

_{Mike Griffin,}

_{Valla Beach NSW 2448}