{"id":50912,"date":"2012-08-11T20:20:41","date_gmt":"2012-08-11T20:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=50912"},"modified":"2012-08-11T20:20:41","modified_gmt":"2012-08-11T20:20:41","slug":"trying-to-stop-refugee-boats-is-unethical-and-futile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/trying-to-stop-refugee-boats-is-unethical-and-futile\/","title":{"rendered":"Trying To Stop Refugee Boats Is Unethical And Futile"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Jay Fletcher<\/a>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Julia Gillard\u2019s \u201cexpert panel\u201d on refugee policy<\/a><\/span> will hand over its findings on how to \u201cstop the boats\u201d and end the parliamentary \u201cdeadlock\u201d over offshore processing when parliament begins sitting again next week.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

File Photo<\/p><\/div>\n

After an asylum boat tragedy that killed 90 people in June, the three-member panel, headed by former defence chief Angus Houston,\u00a0was tasked to report<\/a>\u00a0on the \u201cbest way forward for Australia to prevent asylum seekers risking their lives\u201d considering \u201cAustralia\u2019s right to maintain its borders\u201d.<\/p>\n

When she set up the panel, Gillard made clear that some model of \u201coffshore processing\u201d would remain the Labor government\u2019s priority, even though the High Court ruled its plan to process refugee claim<\/a><\/span>s in Malaysia unlawful.<\/p>\n

Opposition leader Tony Abbott said the panel\u2019s findings would not change the Coalition\u2019s plans to send refugees to Nauru, reintroduce \u201ctemporary protection visas\u201d and turn asylum seeker boats back to Indonesia.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the mainstream media have not let up on their fear campaign against those that help bring asylum seekers here to seek protection.<\/p>\n

ABC radio said on August 4 that the target of an ABC\u00a0Four Corners<\/em>\u00a0\u201cexpose\u201d on domestic people smugglers, Ali al Abassi (Captain Emad), had had his protection visa revoked and could not return to Australia.<\/p>\n

A few days later, the\u00a0Australian<\/em>\u2019s Paul Maley and Cameron Stuart published extensive details of small businesses in Melbourne and western Sydney that were allegedly transferring money overseas to help relatives pay passage to Australia as asylum seekers.<\/p>\n

They said the businesses were using the informal \u201chawala\u201d system, which leaves no paper or electronic trail, to send money to people smugglers for Hazara, Iraqi and Iranian family members to get to Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Australian Federal Police is stepping up efforts to detect businesses in Australia that are seeking to profit and promote the people-smuggling trade,\u201d they said on August 6.<\/p>\n

Maley and Stuart feigned sympathy for people being \u201cexploited\u201d by so-called people smugglers, while demonising their Australian families for \u201cillicit\u201d activity.<\/p>\n

What they failed to mention is that for Hazara, Iraqi and Iranian families in particular, there is no other way to reunite under the Australian system.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s total humanitarian quota is only 13,750 places each year. This includes offshore refugees in camps and onshore applicants through the Special Humanitarian Program. Asylum seekers arriving by boat, their families, family members of resettled refugees and refugees in camps all compete for the same tiny pool of resettlement places \u2014 and the government decides how many of each receive protection.<\/p>\n

Family reunion via this route is unrealistic for most, and the waiting list for some spans more than 20 years. For people recovering from trauma, suffering mental illness or trying to build a life in a foreign country, being separated from family for such lengths has profoundly negative effects.<\/p>\n

They often cannot choose to come by plane either. Australian immigration routinely refuses to give any kind of visa to certain ethnic groups (such as Afghans, Iraqis, Iranians and Sri Lankans) that they consider more likely to apply for refugee status once here.<\/p>\n

Family reunion is a common reason people get on asylum boats. Scores of women and children were on the SIEV-X when it sank in 2001. They were trying to reach their husbands and fathers who were on temporary protection visas and had no right to sponsor family for resettlement.<\/p>\n

Similarly, many refugees on boats are victims of years of limbo in so-called transit countries such as Indonesia \u2014 a country that does not legally recognise them \u2014 where they must await resettlement.<\/p>\n

Australia resettled only 17 refugees from Indonesia in the first three months of this year. In Indonesia, refugees live a shadowy life, at risk of being thrown in immigration jails or caught up in exploitative work.<\/p>\n

Taking a boat to Australia would be the least dangerous option for many, even as the Australian Federal Police\u2019s efforts to \u201cdisrupt\u201d boat journeys make them more dangerous.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why toughening \u201cborder control\u201d without raising Australia\u2019s humanitarian intake is a sure-fire way to lead to more deaths. But that is the path Gillard and Abbott will gladly go down.<\/p>\n

In response to the Gillard government\u2019s \u201cterms of reference\u201d for the Houston inquiry,\u00a0The Conversation<\/em>\u00a0set up a parallel \u201cexpert panel\u201d and\u00a0published its findings<\/a>\u00a0on August 3.<\/p>\n

Based on the evidence, the panel found the approach of \u201cdeterrence\u201d was \u201cboth unethical in relation to persecuted people and unworkable in relation to discouraging an illicit market in irregular migration\u201d.<\/p>\n

The panel said there was not enough evidence to justify the costs and potential harm of \u201cdeterrence\u201d and enforcement measures.<\/p>\n

But it said a \u201csubstantial increase\u201d to the humanitarian visa quota \u201cwould reduce the need for irregular migrants to board unseaworthy vessels and ease the tensions arising from perceived competition for places between offshore [applicants under the refugee] convention … and the Special Humanitarian Program stream.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch an increase would also make family reunion a more realistic prospect for refugee settlers. This is important because there is strong evidence that\u00a0family reunion\u00a0is a key determinant of successful settlement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boosting Australia\u2019s refugee intake to at least 20,000-25,000 is well within means. The 2012-13 migration program is expected to bring in 190,000 new migrants, mostly skilled workers.<\/p>\n

Regardless of Houston\u2019s findings, the two big parties are focused only on \u201cstopping the boats\u201d to prevent the people on them getting Australia’s protection at all. The campaign against offshore processing must continue and grow stronger.<\/p>\n

Courtesy Green Left<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Related posts;<\/p>\n

Analysing Mathusa Sivajalingham\u2019s Testimony As Tamil Asylum Seeker<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Deported Tamil Refugee Released In Sri Lanka, \u201cRecants\u201d In Staged Press Conference<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka: A Nightmare For Tamils<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka: Village Plays Desperate Waiting Game<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Former Sri Lankan Naval Officer \u2018Complicit\u2019 In War Crimes: Canadian Immigration<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

148 Sri Lankan Migrants Arrested On Their Way To Canada<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka Claims Asylum Seekers Are Being Paid<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Suspected Asylum Seekers Rescued From Boat<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Tamil Torture Case Has Exposed Britain\u2019s Flawed Deportation Policy<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tamils Deported To Sri Lanka From Britain Being Tortured, Victim Claims<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Special Report: Tamil Asylum-Seekers To Be Forcibly Deported<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rejected Asylum Seekers Abused In Sri Lanka, Says Rights Group \u2013 ABC<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ranjini Is A Security Risk For Australia,But The Government Won\u2019t Tell Her Why<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

UK: Suspend Deportations Of Tamils To Sri Lanka<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Scores Of Sri Lankans, Due To Have Been Deported From The UK ,Have Had Their Removal Orders Overturned By Judges<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

WikiLeaks: Alternative Ways To Enter America \u2013 All Types Of Sri Lankan\u2019s Visa And Passport Frauds<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Deported From Britain: Back To Ordinariness Or \u2018Duress\u2019 In Sri Lanka?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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