Open letter to the Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon John Howard MP

26 August 2005 is the fourth anniversary of Tampa, a defining moment in Australia's treatment of refugees. Refugees and asylum seekers have the right to be treated with respect and dignity, and in accordance with international standards which protect their human rights.

The undersigned represent a wide range of refugee supporters, church and community organisations that strongly oppose current Government policy. Areas of particular concern include:

1. Pacific Solution. Refugees have the right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution in another country without having their entry prevented and without being penalised. Despite Australia’s international obligations, since August 2001 asylum seekers fleeing the Taliban, Saddam Hussain and other repressive regimes have been refused entry to Australia, with many taken by force to Manus Island and Nauru where there is no access to lawyers or appropriate medical care.

2. Operation Relex. The Australian Navy intercepted tiny fishing boats on the high seas, turned them around and towed them back, putting the lives of men, women and children in danger.

3. Indefinite mandatory detention. Locking up innocent people who have committed no crime, and are never charged or brought before a judge, constitutes a crime against humanity.

4. SIEV-X and the loss of 353 lives. Survivors’ testimony and secrecy surrounding the people smuggling disruption program cause grave concerns. Yet three Senate motions calling for a full judicial inquiry have been ignored.

5. Temporary Protection Visas. Since October 1999, refugees who arrive without a valid visa have been granted three year visas. This One Nation policy was adopted despite the then Health Minister having warned that temporary visas “could well complete the insidious work that torture began” and Philip Ruddock describing them as “unconscionable”.

6. Imprisoning children. The treatment of children deserves special mention. Australia’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Human Rights Commissioner’s recommendations have been disregarded. It is deeply disturbing that lockingup children is integral to our border protection policy.

7. Demonising refugees. Just prior to the 2001 federal election, Cabinet ministers wrongly claimed that asylum seekers had thrown their children overboard. More disturbing, a Senate inquiry into the incident found Navy personnel had been ordered not to attempt a rescue until all passengers of the foundering boat, including women and children, were in the water.

8. Deported to Danger. An inherently flawed system of determining refugee status has resulted in ‘failed’ asylum seekers being put at great risk by being sent back to their countries of origin where high levels of violence and civil unrest still exist.

9. Recent amendments to legislation. The concessions made as a result of Liberal backbenchers speaking out against Government policy are welcome but far more needs to be done.

We, the undersigned, believe that the Government’s policies abuse the human rights of the weak and needy, and contravene several international treaties to which Australia is a party.

The policies are anathema to the concepts of basic decency and a fair go.

We therefore call on you to ensure that Australia's refugee policy adheres, in all respects, to the terms of the international treaties to which our nation is a signatory and to provide permanent protection to all refugees.

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