Sunday 22nd of December 2024
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the race to the bottom .....

the race to the bottom .....

You may have missed it, but the Labor Party made history last week by passing a policy to support, for the first time, the offshore processing of asylum seekers.

But for card-carrying Labor supporters in particular, and fair-minded Australians in general, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

The sweetener - such as it is - was an increase in annual visas for humanitarian refugees to 20,000 a year, on condition of a reduction in the number of boat arrivals.

This increase should be unconditional and not entwined in a quid pro quo formula that turns persecuted and vulnerable human beings into cold statistics as the government bids to make offshore processing Australia's new reality.

Ultimately, offshore processing of asylum seekers – during which some victims may have to wait as long as nine years in detention – will not stop the boats. We now have the harshest and cruellest policy in Australia's history, with more than a third of detainees having been incarcerated for more than a year and many committing acts of self-harm.

Labor's new policy is thus nothing but a political capitulation to the politics of fear and smear waged by Tony Abbott and his opposition.

In his speech to the national conference in Sydney, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said Labor's new refugee policy was ''compassionate'' and ''pro-refugee'', a balance between a ''soft heart and a hard head''.

He is either delusional or in denial. For how else to read this statement after his performance at the conference. Asked to justify the jailing of Indonesian villagers coerced into crewing boats bound for Australia – some of whom are teenagers and don't even know they are engaging in people smuggling – he simply deferred the issue to the Attorney-General. This was either politics at its cynical best or the best cop out in the book.

Further pressed as to whether it is justifiable to sentence an asylum seeker to life in detention when they have committed no crime, he responded that the High Court had ruled that indefinite detention of asylum seekers is legal. A sidestep to be sure, but hardly outright opposition to such draconian measures.

Worse, arguably, was his cold-hearted retort about the government's right to repatriate failed asylum seekers even when there is a risk of death as the Taliban have made brutally explicit in Afghanistan.

Bowen and the government's spin-masters have tried to sell the public the fiction that its policy, while maintaining a balance between humanitarianism and border security, is a deterrent for people smugglers.

But in reality it smacks of political expediency because the government knows that the Malaysian solution is stillborn – rejected by the judiciary and deadlocked in the legislature.

It may be true to argue that, by dint of a High Court ruling and a hung parliament, Labor is processing refugees on Australian soil and in a more humane manner.

But this is neither morally sustainable nor politically defensible. It's nothing but a false sense of security. For the first time in its history Labor's official policy is now to promote offshore processing as the solution.

And to add insult to injury, the rank-and-file party members were denied the right to a conscience vote on this issue even though they were granted it for the hot-button issue of gay marriage.

Indeed, it seemed Bowen was acutely aware it would be a close-fought battle because two prominent members of the Right faction, including refugee advocate Shane Prince, were denied permission to speak at National Conference.

Nevertheless, Labor For Refugees, with the backing of the Left faction, did manage to secure policy reforms that may improve the lives of asylum seekers processed in Australia. Labor has abandoned the policy of treating those who arrive by boat more harshly than those who arrive by air.

Mercifully, Labor has also committed to releasing children and, where possible, their families from detention centres. And for asylum seekers detained while their health, identity and security issues are checked, Labor will strive to ensure that detention is for a maximum of 90 days.

But striving is not good enough. They should be released within 90 days unless there is evidence of a security risk endorsed by a judge.

Nevertheless, these specific reforms pale into insignificance compared with the government's overarching new policy. Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott are now jostling in their race to the bottom on this critical issue. Former prime minister John Howard must be bemused at how the politics of panic he manipulated so expertly are edging Labor closer and closer to Howard-era policies.

As David Marr writes in his new book, Panic: ''Hearts are hardened. Terrible things are done in the name of protecting the nation. It is not the first wave of boats and won't be the last, but the politics are more rancorous than ever.''

Ordinary Australians should be ashamed that our government supports abdicating our responsibility to a third party. Australians need to deal humanely with refugees on Australian soil without compromising border protection.

By backing offshore processing, Labor has crossed the idiomatic Rubicon. It's a subtle but significant shift – one that alters the party's DNA. In short, Labor has abandoned defending human rights in favour of trading the human rights of asylum seekers with other countries.

Not in my name.


http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/asylum-seeker-policy-betrays-labors-true-believers-20111214-1ouf9.html

Many have suggested that Labor’s disastrous performance in the post-National Conference Opinion Polls was driven by its decision to support the Prime Minister’s intention to allow a “conscience vote” on gay marriage next year.

I for one believe that the whole gay marriage “debate” was used by Julia in a cynical attempt to build a smoke-screen to block out Labor’s sickening abandonment of any principle when it comes to Awstrayla’s refugee policy …. there are now three (3) areas of total agreement shared by Julia & Tonocchio …. refugee policy; afghanistan & proposed salary increases for our parliamentarians.

indo cruise ship...

A rescue operation is under way after a boat carrying hundreds of asylum seekers sank off the Indonesian island of Java.

Strong waves wrecked the wooden boat about 90km (55 miles) out to sea, rescue officials said.

At least 250 people were said to be on board, although some reports put the number nearer to 400.

The boat was believed to be heading for Australia carrying asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Turkey and Iran.

"The boat sank Saturday evening and the national search and rescue team has already moved out to sea to start the search," rescue team member Brian Gauthier told state-run news agency Antara.

"It is somewhat difficult to go on with the search because extreme weather has caused reduced visibility."

Police told Antara that the vessel appeared to have been carrying more than twice its capacity.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16234549

For those who don't know what capacity means in boat-load figures, its not just that the weight of the cargo is too heavy but often too "top" heavy... A boat with three times the capacity weight in the bilges might (and will) still float... while the same boat with only half the extra weight added to the topside will topple over... Archimedes and Gus discovered this natural law many moons ago, but there are still some silly dorks eager to profit from the poorest people on earth who have not a clue about the most basic of principles — or are criminal for ignoring what they know about loads...

poor fellow my country .....

ASIO has issued its first adverse security assessment against a child - a Kuwaiti asylum seeker who repeatedly attempted suicide after being held in immigration detention for more than a year.

The ASIO decision, for which no explanation has been given to his lawyers, condemns Ali Abbas, who arrived by boat as an unaccompanied 16-year-old in 2010, to deportation or indefinite detention.

It also appears to contradict evidence given by ASIO to a parliamentary inquiry in December that no child had been blocked as a refugee on security grounds.

Ali was found to be a genuine refugee by the immigration department in April, so cannot be forcibly returned to Kuwait. A federal court judge has meanwhile urged the immigration department to move him to a ''supportive residential or family based environment'' after hearing medical evidence detention was putting his mental health and safety at risk.

The ASIO decision has been condemned by refugee groups. ''We would find it hard pressed to see how a child could have committed serious crimes against humanity or poses an ongoing threat to the Australian community,'' said the chairwoman of Children Out of Immigration Detention, Kate Gauthier.

Ms Gauthier said ASIO had no expertise in dealing with children, and she was concerned the agency's assessment criteria bore little relation to security guidelines in the United Nation's Refugee Convention.

An ASIO spokesman confirmed to the Herald that the case was the first time ASIO had issued an adverse security assessment to ''an irregular maritime arrival aged under 18 years''.

On December 16, ASIO had told a parliamentary inquiry in writing that it had never refused security clearance to a minor, although the immigration department had asked the agency to assess 304 teenagers aged between 16 and 18.

Ali was officially told of the ASIO assessment on December 15, the day lawyers challenged his continuing detention in the federal court.

''This adverse security assessment was issued subsequent to ASIO's appearance at the parliamentary inquiry into immigration detention,'' said the ASIO spokesman yesterday. The director-general of ASIO, David Irvine, appeared on November 22, and dismissed claims that ASIO assessed young children.

Ali turned 18 on December 31. An immigration department spokeswoman said his case would be back in court next Monday.

Meanwhile, as two boats, carrying 35 and 16 passengers, were intercepted in Australian waters yesterday, a senior Indonesian immigration official admitted a move by his government to ease visa restrictions on Sri Lankans may affect Australia.

Sri Lankans have comprised one of the largest group of asylum seekers travelling by boat to Australia from Indonesia.

The director general of immigration for Indonesia's law and human rights ministry, Bambang Irawan, was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying ''there's the potential for the new policy to lure more boat people heading to Australia''.

Indonesia is also considering easing restrictions on Afghans, another large source of boat arrivals, to give more discretion to its overseas embassies to grant a visa.

ASIO Blocks Child Refugee On Security Grounds

child abuse .....

The Greens have called for the immediate suspension of ASIO security checks being conducted on child asylum seekers because of concern the practice breaches human rights obligations.

The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said a parliamentary inquiry would also need to urgently revisit the issue following revelations in the Herald that ASIO evidence was incomplete and as a result ''could be seen to be misleading the committee''.

A Kuwaiti refugee, Ali Abbas, was 17 on December 15 when he was told ASIO had given him an adverse security assessment and he would not be allowed to stay. He had been in detention for more than a year, despite being found to be a refugee, and was hospitalised for suicide attempts.

Senator Hanson-Young said yesterday ''children are not appropriate subjects for ASIO security assessments''.

''We call on the new Attorney-General and the Minister for Immigration to immediately suspend referrals of children for ASIO security assessment pending a review of how these practices contravene the rights of the child.''

Senator Hanson-Young is the deputy chairwoman of the parliamentary inquiry into immigration detention and on November 22 asked the ASIO Director-General, David Irvine, if ASIO assessed teenage asylum seekers.

ASIO sent a written response on December 16 stating ''as at 22 November, 2011, ASIO has not issued any adverse security assessments in relation to minors''. It failed to mention the adverse assessment of Ali Abbas.

ASIO said yesterday Mr Irvine had signed the classified written response on December 14 - the day before Ali Abbas was formally told of his adverse security clearance. However the committee wasn't sent the unclassified document until December 16.

''[ASIO's response] did not include the most up-to-date information and … could be seen to be misleading the committee,'' Senator Hanson-Young said.

An affidavit provided to the Federal Court states a refugee advocate, Pamela Curr, was told by immigration officials several months ago the teenager had ''failed his security check''.

The Labor Party conference called for the National Security Legislation Monitor, Bret Walker, SC, to investigate ways to provide an independent review of ASIO assessments - which cannot be challenged, or fully disclosed.

A spokeswoman for the Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, said the government would make a statement after consulting the relevant agencies.

A new human rights act, requiring future legislation to be checked against human rights obligations, will not apply to the ASIO Act because it is not retrospective.

Greens in push to axe ASIO child checks