Crisis for Asylum Seekers

Did you know that the Federal Government is deliberately forcing asylum seekers into homelessness and destitution?

The background: The Status Resolution Support Service 

People who are seeking recognition as refugees have to wait for their claims for protection to be determined. Until recently, they received support through the SRSS. This support, however, has been drastically cut back over the past two years. The Federal Government has cut the budget from $139.8 million to just $56.2 million, which has had a dramatic impact on the lives of asylum seekers, who, for the most part, are living in our capital cities.

More than 1200 men and women have lost access to torture and trauma services, subsidised medication, and casework support. They have also lost their income support, which amounted to 89% of the Newstart allowance, or approximately $250 a week to cover rent, food and other costs for single adults. Very soon, families with children over six years old will have their support withdrawn.

But everyone needs money to buy food, pay rent and pay for medical help when they need it.

What are they supposed to do?

The Federal Government’s short answer is: “Get a job!” But that is far from easy when you have a short-term, temporary visa, when you are suffering from the trauma of fleeing your homeland and when your English-speaking skills are limited. These asylum seekers want to work, and want to contribute to the community, but first of all they require appropriate support to develop their language skills, to recover from their trauma and to become job-ready. Deliberately making them homeless and destitute serves no good purpose.

How is this policy affecting support services?

Charities, local councils and other services around Australia are reporting huge increases in homelessness and destitution as a result of these savage cuts to SRSS support. Charities are under enormous pressure as they try to respond to the demands on their services. Kon Karapanagiotidis, the CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC), says: “The ASRC and organisations like us are increasingly providing emergency relief in a crisis of homelessness and hunger caused by cuts to SRSS. Entire families are presenting to the ASRC with complex, deteriorating mental and physical health while at the risk of homelessness. People are forcibly dependent on charity rather than being able to contribute to building our multicultural country and economy, which they very much want and try hard to do.”

What can you do?

·      You can join our group to help us campaign for an immediate restoration of SRSS support to all people seeking asylum until they are able to support themselves in paid employment.

·      You can contact the Prime Minister by emailing him at: https://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm. , or phone his office on 02 6277 7700.

·      You can contact our local MP Pat Conaghan by email at: Pat.Conaghan.MP@aph.gov.au.  or phone his office on 6652 6233 (Coffs Harbour office), or 6277 4446 (Canberra office).

Published by Bellingen and Nambucca District Rural Australians for Refugees.

 Email: bellingen.rar@gmail.com.  Created 17.7.19

See also:

Current Detention Set to Continue, Indefinitely

Current Detention Set to Continue, Indefinitely

What is the current policy?

The government has made it clear that indefinite offshore detention will continue, and that the approximately 800 men and women detainees will remain on Nauru and Manus island. None of them will ever be resettled in Australia. The New Zealand government’s offer to take 150 refugees a year from Manus and Nauru has been rejected. The agreement to resettle refugees in the US is moving at a glacial pace, and the Trump administration is reluctant to accept refugees from a number of countries, including Iranians, Somalis, Syrians and Iraqis.

Protesting the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers . Where: Coffs Harbour NSW

"In the struggle for democratic freedoms, we need to ensure that rights apply to everyone – for, if they don’t, they’ll soon apply to none." Jeff Sparrow, The Guardian

Roadside demonstration: Thursday 13^th June, Big Banana, Coffs Harbour

 It is important, in the post-election phase, to continue to remind the public that the cruel policy of the ill-treatment of refugees, both offshore and in Australia, has not subsided in any way. The reality of the re-election of the Morrison government has been nothing less than disastrous for refugees detained offshore, with more than twenty of them self-harming or attempting suicide since 18^thMay. It is equally distressing for the asylum seekers in our cities who find themselves increasingly at the mercy of the government’s harsh policy of withdrawing support for them as they wait, seemingly indefinitely, to have their claims for protection determined.

Fifteen committed protesters demonstrate outside 'The Big Banana" in Coffs Harbour NSW

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Offshore processing statistics, April 2019

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Fast tracking statistics

The government introduced new system of determining who is a refugee for people who came by boat, called 'fast tracking'. How many decisions have they made? How many people are being recognised?

17 May 2019

Australia was a compassionate country.

There is growing support from local drivers.