Dear Ms Andrews,

I am a friend of the Centre for a Compassionate Society, which is based in the electorate of Melbourne. I live in the electorate of ***. We have committed to writing a letter to your government every week until all refugees and asylum-seekers who remain on Nauru and in PNG under Operation Sovereign Borders are appropriately re-settled. We also seek humane treatment for refugees and asylum seekers on-shore. We are copying this letter to the Prime Minister, the Minister for Immigration, the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration, and to our local members of parliament.

This week, a COVID outbreak within the Park Prison has sent our already depressed and dispirited friends into further isolation within their isolation. This outbreak was predictable, and avoidable if you had been prepared to release these men into safety in the community. We request specific answers to these questions:

• How much longer are you prepared to keep these men incarcerated? 
• What purpose is served by their continued detention apart from the gradual destruction of lives?
• Will deaths from COVID be enough to shift your policy?  If so, how many will it take? 

We also note that a third interpreter has been murdered in Afghanistan this week – each one a friend of Australia, each one a loved one to their family and friends. We hope that no more will need to die in order to convince your government to urgently increase its intake of refugees from Afghanistan to at least 20,000 people. We beg you to proceed with haste to bring as many as possible of the people who have been put at such grave risk by Australia’s sudden exit, to safety and a new life in Australia. 

Yours sincerely,

*

Send your letter to Ms Karen Andrews: karen.andrews.mp@aph.gov.au (Minister for Home Affairs).
You could cc it to Ms Kristina Keneally: senator.keneally@aph.gov.au (Shadow minister for Immigration and Home affairs), and to your local Federal MP.

Send the text to the Prime Minister via their website HERE, and to the immigration minister, Alex Hawke, HERE.