Refugees are receiving even further mistreatment after their settlement. Where are we heading? Dear Friends, This might be a boring article for many of you, but please read and share if you care. While I dont in any form or shape, agree, encourage or recommend asylum seekers to come to Australia by boat, I have been bitterly disappointed by the way the Abbot government is treating these people, the majority of whom, if not all, are desperate families who had to leave their life behind in hope for a better life ahead. On almost a daily basis, since Mr Abbot has come to power and appointed Mr Morrison as his immigration minister, we hear something about asylum seekers. This team come from every possible angle aggressively to punish the already- castigated soles of these distressed people. I briefly remind you of some of the announcements and policy changes introduced over the past few months: 1-All asylum seekers arrive in Australia by boat will be sent to a third country such as Papua New Guinea. This is still current/happening despite many human right campaigns/protests. 2-All asylum seekers will only be given a temporary visa (for 3 years) if they found to be refugees. This was overturned by the Senate thank to both the Green and Labour parties, which meant people should be given permanent visas, if found to be genuine refugees. 3-Morrison then decided to put a Cap on the number of permanent visas and decided this number to be 1650. Since this Cap was already reached on the day of this announcement, no one else could receive permanent protection visa. Again thank to the pressure from human right activists and Green senators, this policy didnt last. 4- Just a few weeks ago (19 December 2013), the department of Immigration and Border Protection announced a new policy which in fact is a new direction received from the Minister (Mr Morrison). According to this policy: Family Stream visa applications that are sponsored by people who arrived in Australia as illegal maritime arrivals (IMAs) will only be processed after all other Family Stream applications. This means that IMA sponsored Family Stream applications will not be processed further at this stage, and will not be finalised for a number of years. This lowest priority applies to all Family Stream visa applicants who are sponsored by a person who arrived in Australia as an IMA and now holds a permanent visa (such as a subclass 866 Protection Visa). It does not apply if a sponsor is an Australian citizen. This policy is currently in place and been heavily implemented by all DIBPs offices around the world. The policy retrospectively affects all who came to Australia by boat over the past few years. In my view, this is a cruel and inhuman decision, intentionally designed to further punish those who have come to Australia long before any of these concerns exist. I give you an example of what some of our clients have experienced: Client has come to Australia by boat nearly 5 years ago, spent 18 months in different camps around the country and was finally granted a protection visa in 2011. He is from Afghanistan, has a wife and 4 daughters, all living in Quetta, Pakistan. The family, like all other Hezara families, are under a daily treat for their life to be taken by ani-Hezara people in Pakistan over the past 5 years. According to the policies of the day, back in 2011, the family could apply for a split-family visa, which is a type of humanitarian family reunion. They did apply for the said visa, but in 2012 a directive came from the Minister of the time, which resulted in this familys case to be rejected. They then had no choice but to apply for a partner (subclass 100) visa. Their case which were being slowly processed, had gone through the different stages of processing such as initial assessment, DNA test, police check, Medical tests and alike. I shall note that some of these steps such as DNA tests, cost of all shall be paid by the applicants, are very expensive. The case was almost ready to be finalized within days, but at a sudden the new directive came from the minister (Item 4 above), which means this family cannot receive a visa and will not reunite for several years more. There are hundreds of applicants in similar situation. Only if Mr Abbot or Morrison would have put themselves in the shoes of one of these deprived people for one day, they would have understood what does it mean for an Afghan Hezara girl, not to have a father or brother on side in a city like Quetta, hoping that after 5 years she would reunite with her father, and at once being told that she has to wait several more years. Where are we heading? Is Australia set to be tagged as the most racist and inhuman country on the earth? Are we truly incapable of accommodating family members of those troubled people who have rightly or wrongly made their life threatening journey to Australia 5 years ago and found to be genuine refugees? Shall we punish those who came 5 years ago, in hope to turn back those who may want to come in future? How far we want to go away from the basic human rights that we are obliged to? I, once again, should emphasize that I personally do not accept any excuse for people to come to Australia by boat, and since I havent been in their shoes nor have I experienced their trauma, I cant judge their action, but what I see here is a total failure of Australias obligations towards human rights. I, herein, have briefly pointed to some of critical international obligations that Australia has which, in my view, have all been compromised: • People should not be returned to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened (referred to as ‘refoulement’) • Everyone has the right not to be subjected to arbitrary detention • Children should only be detained as a measure of last resort, and for the shortest appropriate period of time • In all actions concerning children, the best interests of the child should be a primary consideration (and in the case of their legal guardian, the primary consideration) • Anyone who is detained has the right to challenge the legality of their detention in court • All persons who are detained should be treated with humanity and respect for their inherent dignity • No one should be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment • Everyone is entitled to respect for their human rights without discrimination • Asylum seekers should not be penalised for arriving in a country without authorisation • Everyone has the right to work, and to an adequate standard of living, including food, clothing and housing • Everyone is entitled to enjoy the highest attainable standard of mental and physical health • Everyone has the right to have their family protected from arbitrary or unlawful interference • Children who are unaccompanied and/or seeking asylum have a right to special protection and assistance Now you be the judge and point to a single one of the above obligations which in your view has not been compromised by our government recently. While I will keep writing this and similar articles and send them around to different authorities knowing that some may well be discarded before read, I urge each of you who have a kind heart and a strong belief in the essence of humanity, to spend some of your free time on supporting and helping these people who have come to us with high hope. Please stand strongly against this policy that does not allow family reunion for refugees. Best Regards, Sirous Ahmadi 17 January 2014
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 19:43:41 +0000
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