Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese REPORT
3 Sep 2012
Archbishop Denis Hart, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has joined other Australian Christian church leaders in condemnation of Government legislation to allow offshore processing and the indefinite detention of asylum seekers.
Under the Government's new "no advantage" asylum seeker policy not only will those arriving by boat on Australian shores be sent to re-opened isolated, remote detention centres on Nauru and on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, but face the possibility of remaining there for decades.
"With the means to be generous, Australia has opted once again for the principle of 'no advantage', the policy of deterrence and now, the practice of preventing family reunion," says John Ferguson, National Director of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council (ACSJC). "Our prosperity to the tune of well over a billion dollars each year is being spent to deter and disadvantage many who are already traumatised by violence, perilous journeys and an uncertain future."
He points out that Australia's Catholic bishops in their 2012-1013 Social Justice statement remind us of how the Holy Family were forced by Herod's wrath to become refugees.
In the statement the bishops call on Australia to meet its international obligations and reproach the Government's policies that exacerbate the harm already experienced by vulnerable people, particularly practices put in place by changes to the Migration Act which will damage family structures.
Under the Government's new policy, families will not be permitted to join those who have arrived by boat. The ACSJC says not only will the withdrawal of family reunion rights remove the most important protection for people in terrible circumstances, but will result in teenage minors and children being held without family or relatives being held in indefinite detention on Nauru or Manus Island.
There is also alarm that the UN will have no role in processing asylum seekers offshore and that separate and different agreements have been made by Australia with the governments of Nauru and PNG. Under the Memorandum of Understanding with PNG, Australia guarantees that asylum seekers "will have left within as short a time as is reasonably necessary." But with the Memorandum of Understanding with Nauru the no-advantage test is recognised along with "the need to ensure as far as possible that no benefit is gained through circumventing regular migration arrangements."
In other words the asylum seekers may be held for long periods of time.
Another difference in the agreements is that while the PNG agreement stipulates that all activities will be conducted according to international law, this is not part of the Nauru agreement which only refers to "all relevant domestic laws."
A joint statement expressing grave concern about the return of offshore processing and the Government's new policy was released yesterday. Signed by Archbishop Denis Hart on behalf of the Australia's Catholic Bishops and by church leaders such as Commissioner James Condon of the Salvation Army; the Most Rev Dr Phillip Aspinall Primate of the Church of England; the Rev Professor Andrew Dutney, President of the Uniting Church in Australia; Rev Craig Brown, Federal Coordinator of the Churches of Christ in Australia; Ms Maxine Cooper of the Religious Society of Friends and Dr Joe Goodall, Moderator of the Congregational Federation of Australia and Aotearoa-new Zealand, the statement said the country's Christians were "deeply troubled" by the potential for asylum seekers to suffer adverse mental and health consequences as a result of the Government's amended legislation.
"We are concerned this damages our credibility and in particular, our ability to negotiate a human regional system of protection," the statement said.
While acknowledging answers to "this complicated humanitarian challenge" was difficult, the Church leaders said that as such a rich and secure nation, Australia had a particular responsibility to ensure "we work positively with other nations to develop a range of a strategies grounded in compassion and that seek to honour the moral responsibility we have to victims of violence and persecution."
The church leaders firmly believe it is only through regional cooperation that asylum seekers can be provided with real alternatives to undertaking perilous boat journeys in their bid to find safety.
Tragically more lives were lost last week when a wooden boat carrying 150 asylum seekers sank in the Sunda Strait in the waters off Indonesia. Of those on board, only 56 have been recovered so far. This brings the death toll of asylum seekers lost at sea on their way to Australia over the past 20 months to 657. However this number could well be higher as many who set off in flimsy craft are not picked up by radar and may have sunk before a distress signal could be launched.
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY
3 Sep 2012
Asylum seekers to be housed in tents until Nauru detention centre can be rebuilt
Under the Government's new "no advantage" asylum seeker policy not only will those arriving by boat on Australian shores be sent to re-opened isolated, remote detention centres on Nauru and on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, but face the possibility of remaining there for decades.
"With the means to be generous, Australia has opted once again for the principle of 'no advantage', the policy of deterrence and now, the practice of preventing family reunion," says John Ferguson, National Director of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council (ACSJC). "Our prosperity to the tune of well over a billion dollars each year is being spent to deter and disadvantage many who are already traumatised by violence, perilous journeys and an uncertain future."
He points out that Australia's Catholic bishops in their 2012-1013 Social Justice statement remind us of how the Holy Family were forced by Herod's wrath to become refugees.
Archbishop Denis Hart, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
Under the Government's new policy, families will not be permitted to join those who have arrived by boat. The ACSJC says not only will the withdrawal of family reunion rights remove the most important protection for people in terrible circumstances, but will result in teenage minors and children being held without family or relatives being held in indefinite detention on Nauru or Manus Island.
There is also alarm that the UN will have no role in processing asylum seekers offshore and that separate and different agreements have been made by Australia with the governments of Nauru and PNG. Under the Memorandum of Understanding with PNG, Australia guarantees that asylum seekers "will have left within as short a time as is reasonably necessary." But with the Memorandum of Understanding with Nauru the no-advantage test is recognised along with "the need to ensure as far as possible that no benefit is gained through circumventing regular migration arrangements."
In other words the asylum seekers may be held for long periods of time.
Overgrown and derelict Government wants to repair and reopen Manus Island Detention Centre in Papua New Guinea
A joint statement expressing grave concern about the return of offshore processing and the Government's new policy was released yesterday. Signed by Archbishop Denis Hart on behalf of the Australia's Catholic Bishops and by church leaders such as Commissioner James Condon of the Salvation Army; the Most Rev Dr Phillip Aspinall Primate of the Church of England; the Rev Professor Andrew Dutney, President of the Uniting Church in Australia; Rev Craig Brown, Federal Coordinator of the Churches of Christ in Australia; Ms Maxine Cooper of the Religious Society of Friends and Dr Joe Goodall, Moderator of the Congregational Federation of Australia and Aotearoa-new Zealand, the statement said the country's Christians were "deeply troubled" by the potential for asylum seekers to suffer adverse mental and health consequences as a result of the Government's amended legislation.
"We are concerned this damages our credibility and in particular, our ability to negotiate a human regional system of protection," the statement said.
Refugees often live in appalling conditions and risk their lives on boats in a bid to find safety and a future
The church leaders firmly believe it is only through regional cooperation that asylum seekers can be provided with real alternatives to undertaking perilous boat journeys in their bid to find safety.
Tragically more lives were lost last week when a wooden boat carrying 150 asylum seekers sank in the Sunda Strait in the waters off Indonesia. Of those on board, only 56 have been recovered so far. This brings the death toll of asylum seekers lost at sea on their way to Australia over the past 20 months to 657. However this number could well be higher as many who set off in flimsy craft are not picked up by radar and may have sunk before a distress signal could be launched.
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY
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