April news - boat arrivals

This week feels like being back in the bad old days of 2001-04. A few boat arrivals and the anti-asylum seeker rhetoric is whipped up by sections of the media, the level of policy debate from our politicians is sadly lacking in fact, and many are trying to make political mileage from the recent tragedy.

Some key non-government politicians have blamed the deaths on changes to asylum seeker policy by the Government. As pointed out by?Crikey today, Coalition policy was directly responsible for the 353 deaths when the SIEV-X sank. It was filled with mostly women and children, trying to reach husbands and fathers in Australia who had been found to be refugees, but were denied family reunion due to the Coalitions inhumane Temporary Protection Visa policy. Their only choice for reunion was the dangerous boat journey from Indonesia.

When politicians call for a renewal of harsh policies like TPVs, they are calling for an increase in boat numbers and an increase in needless deaths.

We had thought that the time of knee-jerk policies and public statements crafted to appeal to the lowest common denominator was over. This week shows us just how fragile the recent humane changes truly are.

Please see below for some ideas about what you can do to help us during this critical period.

Kate Gauthier
For the A Just Australia team.

A Just Australia has today called for rational debate on the recent asylum seeker arrivals.

It is unfortunate that some have sought to exploit desperate asylum seekers for political advantage. The fact is that Australia is experiencing the same small increase in numbers currently happening all over the world. There is no increase due to policy change.

Global numbers of asylum seekers have been rising for some time. According to UNHCR, the recent increases in Australia are reflected in the global trends. During 2001-2006, all countries experienced a large drop in asylum applications, then in 2007-2008 there was a universal increase of around 11%.?Source UNHCR

The statistics from UNHCR show that Australia's recent small increase in asylum arrivals are the same increases that all other countries are experiencing. It has nothing to do with domestic policy. It must also be remembered that there was a huge surge in boat arrivals after deterrent policies were introduced, such as temporary protection visas.

The fact is that so-called harsh policies do not stop desperate people who are fleeing war and persecution. The only thing that works is creating safe options for refugees closer to home so they are not forced to travel the world seeking a secure, permanent haven.

Given the recent politicised debate on this issue, A Just Australia challenges all political parties to develop clear and written policies on asylum seekers.

We are keen to see the Coalition develop a policy on this issue, because so far all we've had is reaction to Government policy. It would be interesting to see how they would actually go about stopping asylum seeking without breaching our human rights obligations. Do they really want to see Australia returning to pushing back boats of persecuted women and children?

In the past week, there have been many examples of the media using the term 'illegals' when referring to asylum seekers.

We have already made complaints on 4 of these incidents by the Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald, AAP and the ABC. AJA will continue to make complaints whenever we see this term being used. By doing this, we can reduce the use of this term. But it takes vigilance and it will help the campaign if you take action too! See below.

What you can do.

Whenever you read or hear the media using this term, please contact us at AJA to let us know so we can make a formal complaint. mail@ajustaustralia.com or 02?8090?8864. You can also read our guidelines?for making a complaint and lodge a complaint yourself.

We are asking our supporters to write to key politicians on this issue. After the closure of the Pacific Solution, the Minister received more negative letters than positive ones. So it is vital that AJA supporters make their voices heard!

Coalition:
Malcolm Turnbull's details can be found here

Dr Sharman Stone's details can be found here

Let them know that you disagree that recent changes have caused boat increases, that UNHCR shows that there is a small increase being seen globally, and that TPVs were a direct cause of increased boat numbers leading to the deaths of 353 people on board the SIEV-X. You could ask them to state exactly what their policy approach would be that would both decrease boat arrivals while adhering to our international obligations.

Immigration Minister
Please write to the Minister for Immigration, Chris Evans and show your support for an approach that targets people smugglers and does not punish asylum seekers. The Government needs to know that people support a humane approach. You can?find his contact details here.

If you doubt the need for AJA's work to continue, you just have to read the opinion piece put out by 2GBs Chris Smith:

But while having to play our part in providing refuge to legitimate refugees, we cannot create some kind of open slather passage to anyone with enough cash and bravado to nation-hop their way to the land of Oz. We don't have the jobs. We have too many welfare already and there's the obvious concerns over security.

And so what yesterday's explosion has already done is begin what will become a long and fiery debate over border security just as we got in 2001. And I'd say: Bring it on.

But what dominated that earlier debate was the now infamous children overboard claim. A false claim, which still raised serious questions about the intent of some asylum seekers and their own respect for humanity. Either way, Australians deserved to hear the truth. The same way as we deserve to know what really happened on that boat yesterday morning.

Read the full text?online here where you can leave comments.

Or this lovely piece from Andrew Bolt

AT least three boat people now dead. So how much 'kinder' do Kevin Rudd's policies seem now? John Howard was supposed to be the cruel one, said Labor. It was Howard when Prime Minister who put in the Pacific Solution, whisking illegal boat people to Nauru, rather than land them here. Too harsh, said Kevin Rudd, and scrapped it. It was Howard who cut the legal circus that allowed illegal immigrants to play the system for years, until we gave up trying to deport them. Too harsh, said Rudd, and laid on lawyers.?read the full rant here.


The debate has clearly shown that AJA's work can't stop yet and to continue we need your support to move us closer to a 'just Australia' for refugees. Please consider a regular monthly donation, and/or becoming a member.

See this report??for the policy changes we will be targeting in 2009. Click here?for details on how you can support our work.

In March, the Minister introduced legislation to halt the practice of billing people for detention and to waive existing debts. This was one of the advocacy sector's high priority issues for 2009, and it is an important step forward for justice and will relieve an enormous burden on people in the community who had been charged for their detention.

You can read the press release here

The bill is not due for debate and a vote until later this year, probably the May-June sitting period. Feel free to write to the Immigration Minister and thank him for this important step.