Scrap refugee plan: bishops

Sydney
7 April 2002

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Scrap refugee plan: bishops

By Kathleen Carmody

The Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference has condemned the Federal Government's 'Pacific Solution', describing it as "unconscionable".

"We call for an abandonment of the so-called Pacific Solution whereby asylum seekers are taken to neighbouring countries," the bishops said.

"We call for the abandonment of turning boats away and escorting asylum seekers to countries such as Nauru and Papua New Guinea. This is an unconscionable practice."

The bishops also urged the Government to increase the humanitarian refugee intake from 12,000 per year to at least 20,000; to put an end to the mandatory detention of refugees and to relax policies which seek to restrict the rights of asylum seekers.

"The human dignity of people seeking refuge from persecution must be reflected in our nation's policies," they said. "We have grave doubts that this is so at the present time.

"We urge the Australian Government to review the current policies for dealing with those who seek asylum here to ensure that they are not discriminated against because of their mode of arrival."

Australia's Humanitarian Program - the permanent settlement program - quota is currently set at 12,000.

The bishops recommend "that the quota be raised from 12,000 to at least 20,000".

They say the Humanitarian Program requires refugees to 'queue' in overseas ports. However, many nations lack offices or processing facilities, which has given rise to the practice of people-smuggling. It is these so called 'illegal immigrants' who end up in Australia's detention centres.

The policy of detention is deeply destructive of human dignity and particularly of children, the bishops said.

People should be released into the community after security, identity and health checks and after they lodge applications for protection visas. They should be obliged, though, to contact immigration authorities on a regular basis.

The bishops highlighted what they described as an "oppressive feature of life" in the detention centres - "a climate of bullying".

"Harassment by one group of residents against other more vulnerable groups makes a miserable situation truly desperate," they said. "Having escaped from situations of persecution in their own countries, members of ethnic and religious minorities find themselves subjected in the centres to similar persecution."

The bishops expressed deep concern at new measures that restrict the rights of asylum seekers who arrive without documentation. These include three-year Temporary Protection Visas which deny the right of family reunion; legislation designed to strengthen Australian borders, including the excision of Ashmore Reef and Christmas Island from Australia's migration zone; a stricter interpretation of the Refugee Conv ention and limiting the right of judicial review to those refused asylum.

"These laws treat those found to be refugees as people of lesser dignity," the bishops said. "They establish precedents for discriminatory treatment which should have no place in Australian law practice."

The bishops praised the Catholic Church's efforts in helping refugees and asylum seekers.