Here is a letter that I have sent to the United Nations HCR, The UN Human Rights Council, and Amnesty International. Id encourage anyone who is disgusted by the Australian government to write and let your thoughts be known. This must stop, and we must not remain silent. ------------------------------------- Dear Madam/Sir, I am at a loss of who to write to to express my dismay at the current situation with Australian asylum seeker policy, and to request international action to place pressure on the Australian government to cease an escalation of cruelty and trauma that is being inflicted on people who come to our shores seeking protection. Therefore, I hope that writing to you is able to flag my concerns, and that you will be able to forward this to appropriate people. I am an Australian citizen, and am thoroughly ashamed of the actions of my government in relation to asylum seekers. On a pretence of “stopping drownings at sea”, the Australian government has found an excuse to implement morally repugnant policies that are causing significant damage to people who are already traumatised and vulnerable. The current policy is that all people who come by boat to seek asylum in Australia are sent to offshore processing facilities on Manus Island and Nauru, detained indefinitely and are denied the possibility of ever being settled in Australia, even though over 90% of them are adjudged to be genuine refugees. The living conditions in these camps are brutal, and in no way fit for human habitation, especially when the people imprisoned there are given no hope for their future. Children, women and men are being detained in these facilities, denied information, denied legal representation, separated from family groups, even during times of childbirth. Some of the conditions and effects are outlined in the two articles I have attached from the Australian media today. The current government is shameless about creating conditions which are cruel and damaging, supposedly as a deterrent, and are also using these conditions to attempt to coerce people to return to the country from which they have fled, often in fear of their lives. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, children are being used as a bargaining tool to get people to return home. Paul Bowers from the Refugee Council of Australia is quoted today in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald: There will be increased incidents of self harm - its started to happen. There will be suicides, hunger strikes, because if you hold people in a harsh environment indefinitely with no hope then they break. However, even thought he current government is open about wanting to step up cruelty towards asylum seekers, they are now treating the Australian people, and the international community with contempt, by refusing to release information about boat arrivals, the number of children detained and sent home, and about their stated policy of “turning back the boats”. The Australian government, lead on this issue by Scott Morrison MP and Prime Minister Tony Abbott MP, deny that it is using intimidation to force people to return to their country of origin, but are now condoning and even encouraging the use of severe, cruel and damaging strategies to achieve an ideological and political outcome. The Australian government, and Mr Morrison and Mr Abbott in particular, are deaf to the pleas of Australian citizens who are horrified that these crimes against humanity are being committed in our names. I humbly request that every possible avenue be explored to place pressure individually on Mr Morrison and Mr Abbott to alter this policy direction, and on the Australian government to honour its international obligations under the United Nations Refugee convention and treat assylum seekers with humanity and dignity. If this is not the correct place for this request to be considered, I ask that you please refer my request to the correct office. Sincerely yours, Glen Barton Articles to view: smh.au/federal-politics/political-news/asylum-policy-of-deterrence-threatening-families-20131114-2xjnr.html smh.au/federal-politics/political-news/abbotts-new-world-order-20131114-2xji4.html#poll
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 03:04:31 +0000
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