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Weekly refugee post
Sep. 13th, 2013 12:17 pmLet's see if I can make this a regular thing. (Few people read my lj these days - heck, few people ever read it! My hope is that these summaries and links might be helpful to anyone writing to their local member, or the editor of a newspaper, or discussing the issues online or off.)
As you probably know, Australia elected a new government last weekend, replacing the (leftish) Labor Party and its leader Kevin Rudd with the (rightish) Liberal Party and its leader Tony Abbott. Over the years, and especially in the election leadup, both major parties engaged in a "race to the bottom" over their asylum seeker policies, based on the false premise that refugees are "economic migrants" who "forum shop" for safe haven - so on this issue, neither deserved a vote. Nonetheless, the election of the Libs, with their intention to return to pointlessly cruel policies such as Temporary Protection Visas, is alarming.
However, Tony Abbott faces hurdles in getting any further punitive policies through. One will be the federal Senate, once its exact makeup is known (it promises to be interesting). Another will be our neighbour Indonesia, the source of very many "boat people", who have rejected Abbott's proposals again and again, as they did this week with the plan to buy smuggler's boats and place bounties on people smugglers. From Indonesia's viewpoint, this plan amounts to a violation of their sovereignty.
On the other hand, it looks as though another neighbour of ours, Papua New Guinea, will continue with the arrangements already put into place by the outgoing government. Operation Sovereign Borders (I kid you not) is also set to be put into place, headed by a freshly-promoted three-star commander.
Also in the news recently: stateless refugee Peter Qasim, destroyed not by the torturers he fled but by Australian bureaucrats.
ETA: Nauru has asked for Australian funding for its justice system to help provide fair trials for asylum seekers accused of rioting in July.
As you probably know, Australia elected a new government last weekend, replacing the (leftish) Labor Party and its leader Kevin Rudd with the (rightish) Liberal Party and its leader Tony Abbott. Over the years, and especially in the election leadup, both major parties engaged in a "race to the bottom" over their asylum seeker policies, based on the false premise that refugees are "economic migrants" who "forum shop" for safe haven - so on this issue, neither deserved a vote. Nonetheless, the election of the Libs, with their intention to return to pointlessly cruel policies such as Temporary Protection Visas, is alarming.
However, Tony Abbott faces hurdles in getting any further punitive policies through. One will be the federal Senate, once its exact makeup is known (it promises to be interesting). Another will be our neighbour Indonesia, the source of very many "boat people", who have rejected Abbott's proposals again and again, as they did this week with the plan to buy smuggler's boats and place bounties on people smugglers. From Indonesia's viewpoint, this plan amounts to a violation of their sovereignty.
On the other hand, it looks as though another neighbour of ours, Papua New Guinea, will continue with the arrangements already put into place by the outgoing government. Operation Sovereign Borders (I kid you not) is also set to be put into place, headed by a freshly-promoted three-star commander.
Also in the news recently: stateless refugee Peter Qasim, destroyed not by the torturers he fled but by Australian bureaucrats.
ETA: Nauru has asked for Australian funding for its justice system to help provide fair trials for asylum seekers accused of rioting in July.
