Letter to Minister Hawke: Eight years too long

 

From: M..........................
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2021 11:15 AM
To: 'Alex.Hawke.MP@aph.gov.au' <Alex.Hawke.MP@aph.gov.au>
Subject: Eight years too long

 

Dear Minister Hawke,

Today, 19^th July 2021, marks the grim eighth anniversary of the Rudd government’s decision to consign asylum seekers arriving by boat to indefinite limbo, a policy which your government has pursued relentlessly over the years.

You are very familiar with the details: at least 14 people have died whilst in the “care” of the government, many hundreds have self-harmed out of despair at their indefinite detention, many have been coerced in to returning to their homelands, and most of those remaining are seriously unwell. The cost in human suffering is enormous.

We know from many sources that Nauru and PNG are not safe places for refugees, and that they live in constant fear. In spite of the government’s statements to the contrary, the welfare of these people is the responsibility of the Australian government, which shows little regard for their plight, and continues to spend an enormous amount of taxpayers’ money to keep them out of sight and out of mind.

These refugees pose no threat to Australia’s border security. That is taken care of by the ABF.  The resettlement of more than 900 refugees in the US has not led to a resumption of the people-smuggler trade.

It is time for the government to end the suffering of these people, who have fled war and persecution in their home countries to seek asylum on our shores, as is their right under international conventions to which Australia is a signatory.

I call on you, therefore: to immediately accept the NZ offer to resettle 150 refugees per annum ;  to bring all the refugees remaining in PNG and Nauru to Australia for resettlement here or in other safe countries; to release all those remaining in onshore detention or APODs into the community where it is safe to do so, and to ensure that they receive the medical assistance and other support that thy need. They are entitled to a future.

This inhumane and cruel treatment of innocent people has gone on for far too long.

Yours sincerely,

M.... G........

Valla Beach, NSW 2448