February News

Dear Supporters of A Just Australia,

It?s been a while since you heard from us, but that?s because we have been busy working on the campaign, not because nothing has been happening.

At the start of the year, AJA and the Refugee Council wrote to the Minister for Immigration, Chris Evans and outlined our high priority policy goals for 2009, developed in consultation with other organisations around Australia. We have had two meetings with Minister?s advisers, which went well. They have acknowledged all our key issues as being ones they have also flagged as needing reform.

All in all, the capacity AJA has to campaign on policy reform has grown exponentially in the past year. Where previously we were a voice in the wilderness, we?ve now been invited to the table to put forward our members and supporters views on how asylum seekers should be treated in Australia. We are looking forward to a really productive 2009.

AJA recently attended the annual Ministerial consultations, and coming up in the next few weeks is the first meeting of the Onshore Protection Consultative Group ? a new policy group put together at the Minister?s request of which AJA is a member. We are also going to the annual DIAC ? NGO consultations, and meeting with the head of UNCHR, Antonia Guterres at a roundtable briefing session in Melbourne.

So this year we expect to have just as big an impact on policy reform as last year. But we need your help. Please click here to donate or become a member, to keep the campaign alive. You can either donate online, or print off a form to mail to us with a cheque, money order or credit card donation.

2009 high priority policy goals

In late 2007, advocacy groups in the asylum seeker sector identified seven high priority issues to be tackled by the Immigration Minister in 2008.? There has been great positive progress on all these issues, with many completed and others well underway to being resolved as of the end of 2008. You can read the 2008 progress report here.

Work rights and complementary protection are issues that carry over from 2008, although legislative reform is planned for sometime in 2009.

In late 2008, advocacy groups met again to determine the new priorities for 2009.

Our policy priorities are: detention reform, visa processing improvements, protection of children, community-based asylum seeker programs, repealing excision and closing Christmas Island, halting of detention debts, improvements to community consultation and increased checks and balances for removal of failed asylum seekers.

Read this 2 page summary of the policy campaign for 2009.

Sample letter from a politician

?Below please find a letter we received a while ago from a (now ex) coalition MP. It?s a great example of the sorts of attitudes that A Just Australia works so hard to counter. We?ve made great progress through our lobbying trips, meeting MPs and Senators from all sides to discuss the issues. But these attitudes still linger in some of our politicians. That?s why we are keeping the campaign alive.?

Thank you for your letter of the 24^th May. I want to assure you that I wholeheartedly support a ?just? refugee program for Australia. A program where genuine refugees are accepted through the proper UN process from refugees camps around the globe.

It really makes me angry that some people feel they have a monopoly on caring and that people who don?t support their particular opinion are heartless or uncaring.

I support mandatory detention of those who arrive in our country illegally for many reasons ? including health, security and social concerns. I do not want a system where people smuggling is in any way encouraged, or where genuine refugees who have applied through the proper channels face further delays to their application.

As a mother who is dedicated to helping children, I do care deeply about the lives of children within detention centers. I have spoken at length with many of my colleagues who have visited detention facilities, and, yes, I hold the view that the facilities and conditions there are, in many respects, better than the countries these people left behind.

Nevertheless, I do understand that both adults and children would prefer to have the freedom to go where they like while their applications are being processed. That?s only natural. But I don?t believe it is at all reasonable, given they have entered Australia illegally, most often without any identifying papers. They have deliberately entered Australia illegally ? that is the bottom line.

It is a great shame that children are being use, in my view, as pawns in a political campaign. I would hazard a guess that they would be a lot less traumatized were it not for the behaviour of some adults in the centers who, with the support of organisations like yours, embark on a deliberate campaign of ?emotional blackmail? in the form of self harm and violence.

I cannot see how conditions at the centers constitute ?institutionalized abuse? as you allege. Would you consider it more humane to separate these children from their parents and place them in foster care? I understand this option has been canvassed and, understandably, the vast majority of parents prefer to keep their children with them.

I believe the most humane way to ensure a just refugee program is to continue to send a strong message to people smugglers and those who utilize their services. The fewer who arrive in our country this way, the fewer there will be in detention centres, and the fewer who will put themselves at risk by taking to sea in questionable vessels.

I would welcome genuine debate about the numbers of refugees that the Australian community should accept. Already we have one of the highest per capita intakes of refugees of any nation, but I know some people feel higher numbers are justified, and by all means that is worthy of discussion. Lets also talk about conditions in refugee camps around the world. But please do not continue to belittle those who support the Government policy on illegal entrants. It does your cause no good to claim a monopoly on compassion, and cast yourselves as morally superior to the vast majority of Australians who do support the policy of mandatory detention for those who enter our country illegally.

I am always heartened by the diversity of viewpoints that make up the rich tapestry that is our Australian democracy. However, it saddens me that people like yourself seem unable to accept that those who hold a contrary view to theirs on this issue can still be intelligent, caring and compassionate. We are. We just don?t agree with you.

Yours sincerely, XX

If this letter outraged you, then consider becoming a member or donor to help fund the important work of A Just Australia. Click here to help.

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Children in the immigration regime

In particular the issue of children in the immigration regime is one that AJA will be focusing on in 2009. The former coalition government enacted into legislation the principle that ?Children shall be detained as a measure of last resort? and the current Immigration Minister declared in July 2008 that children would not be detained ?..in an immigration detention center (IDC). Instead, both the former and the current governments have used centers called Residential Housing Projects that are much more humane and ?homelike? but are still clearly places of detention. We applaud the fact that kids are no longer kept behind razor wire in desert camps, and we acknowledge that sometimes it is difficult to find proper accommodation for the whole family unit. But we say that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, calling it a residential housing project doesn?t mean you are not detaining children.

This is most critical on Christmas Island.? On mainland Australia, the Department has a range of programs and access to external service providers, which ensures that the fewest numbers of kids are detained in housing projects as possible because kids and their families are usually kept in community detention arrangements with monitoring if they are not eligible for a bridging visa. It?s nigh on impossible to achieve this level of service in a remote location like Christmas Island. If the Government is serious about the rights of kids and their families, they need to abolish the remote asylum processing of children on Christmas Island and bring them to mainland Australia.

See this article about a UK campaign to have the Convention on the Rights of the Child apply to asylum seeking children.??

Detention billing

The issue of charging people for their time in detention has been one that come up a lot lately. In general, people who are granted a protection visa have their charges waived, but the amounts still sit there on record. But this is not always the case and many people who are given Ministerial intervention under compassionate or humanitarian grounds are sent a bill. This can impact on whether they can then apply for family reunion when they later become permanent residents. There is also the basic issue of justice - of charging a person for their incarceration.

The recent parliamentary committee inquiry into immigration detention made the recommendation that this practice be halted. We fully support their call and hope to see some changes to this practice implemented this year. This is another policy priority for AJA in 2009.

You can find this detention billing fact sheet on the AJA website

?Notices

Special thanks from Bridge to Asylum

The Management Committee wishes to thank all those wonderful people who have provided financial and in kind support to us over the last five and a half years. My belated best wishes to you all for 2009.

I would like to note here the donations made by supporters of A Just Australia and the NSW Nurses? Association ? Delegates? Conference to purchase phone cards.

The phone cards provided by A Just Australia were given to asylum seekers on BVEs who are living in the community, who have no rights to access Centrelink benefits, Medicare, and no work or study rights. The funds provided for phone cards by the NSW Nurses? Association were used to purchase a variety of phone cards for Villawood Immigration Detention Centre detainees who are awaiting finalisation of their claims. In addition, phone cards were given to us by UnitingCare NSW.ACT supporters and Mosman Uniting Church parishioners.

In addition to the phone cards, A Just Australia supporters and UnitingCare ACT. NSW staff and friends provided funds and food hampers for asylum seekers. These donations were very gratefully received.

Workshop: Protecting Human Rights

The one day workshop will help anyone who is interested in understanding and speaking out about human rights. It covers the principles underpinning human rights, international human rights systems, gaps in protection in Australia, models of protection and the debate for and against protection in Australia.

Dates and location:

Sydney CBD: 2?February?and 27 March 2009

Newcastle: 19 March 2009

Cost: $80

More information: kaki@piac.asn.au

Download registration form:?

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Get a fantastic Yoko Ono?endorsed T-shirt to assist needy refugees!

Sanctuary Refugee Foundations have come up with a unique T-shirt design, made using religious symbols to spell 'PEACE' as part of John Lennon's famous song lyrics 'Give Peace a Chance'.

Every T-shirt bought will directly go towards assisting refugees in need to escape their desperate situations.? Sanctuary sponsors refugees to come to Australia.? For more information and to order a T-shirt, see http://www.sanctuaryrefugeefoundation.org/

?QIRCH Calendar 2009 ? only $10 and available now

The Queensland Integrated Refugee Community Health Clinic has published their 2009 calendar, containing useful dates for those working in the refugee & multicultural sector such as World Refugee Day (20th June).? It also contains public holidays, QLD School terms, major religious occasions, useful contacts numbers and most importantly gorgeous colourful artwork from children of a refugee background at Moorooka State Primary School.? All profits go towards supporting the continuing work of the QIRCH Clinic.? Email: sarah.lawson@mater.org.au

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