Project SafeCom Members Newsletter All other refugee lists refugee groups News update - Saturday March 9, 21:00 Taipei ST
News has just come through that the Minister for Immigration has ordered the deportation of 700 asylum seekers from Woomera Detention Centre, Cocos Island and Christmas Island within weeks. He says out of the 1,700 detainees, there are now 700 people awaiting deportation because their asylum claims were rejected, and that another 700 detainees are appealing against adverse decisions. The story is first reported on ABC online: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2002/03/item20020309235832_1.htm This news fills me with disgust, especially because in terms of deportation, this Ministry can and is acting swiftly, while in terms of assessment and acceptance the process for many drags out for months and years. Today, on the day that Amnesty International's Secretary-General, Irene Khan, departs Australia after a formal visit because of AI's concerns with the detention policies, this Minister was of the opinion 'that she did not know the background' - but in the light of renewed protest action by 170 detainees in Woomera, this Minister responds with the "send them back" strategy. This government, faced with more embarrassment, is quite happy to place asylum seekers in further danger, rather than have a heart that speaks with and for refugees. Australia may well be said to "refoul" asylum seekers within its own territories - one of the clearest UN Convention Criteria - but now, with this speedy removal, I fear that hundreds of those who will be deported, in addition to having undergo trauma at the hand of this government and its detention policies, face that refoulement again in the countries where they will arrive. I ask from Amnesty International, the UN Association of Australia, the reporting officers of UNHCR, and all other agencies charged or working with the care for refugee and human rights standards, as well as from all refugee support, lobby and action groups, AS WELL AS all politicians who put a heart and a conscience before their career, the following - in addition to their previously agreed pro-refugee mandate: 1. to declare the strongest possible protest against these recent actions of the Minister for Immigration and the Howard Government; 2. - for politicians: to refuse to cooperate with the actions of this government, to move a motion of no confidence in this government, to cross the floor in any decisions as appropriate, and to announce the blocking of supplies to this government in the Senate, thus forcing a double dissolution; 3. to - if this deportation happens - start on a conscious program of closely monitoring all asylum seekers individually after their deportation, of course in the first place for their welfare and enabling further support strategies, but also in order to collect evidence for the future Royal Commission into the treatment of refugees by the Howard government - which has been called for recently and has now attracted about 10,000 signatures on-line at: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ausrefug/petition.html Jack H. Smit ____________________ Project Coordinator Project SafeCom Inc. http://www.safecom.org/refugees.htm . . . . . . . . . HAVE YOU SIGNED OUR FREEDOM VISA YET??? . . . . . . . . . http://www.safecom.org/people-visa.htm . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
