Do you want to add your energies to pressuring the Australian government on the issue of refugee rights?

Weekly letter writing in support of refugees 

Every week we provide you with fresh text for a letter to our politicians, calling for more humane treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, onshore and offshore. You can edit or just use that text, and send it on to relevant MPs and Senators, so it’s a quick and easy way for you to add your voice to the group effort. Individual letter writing is known to have more impact on politician’s thinking than petitions. It’s also a great way to stay informed about refugee issues.

·      join our weekly letter-writing campaign – send us an email

·      send a one-off letter to your local member – find latest information on the plight of refugees here

·      visit your local Federal member of parliament – find parliamentarians here.

Background

Since 2013 refugees and asylum seekers were held in offshore detention on Nauru and in PNG, under Australia’s infamous Operation Sovereign Borders. Some were ‘Medevaced’ to Australia, but were then imprisoned in hotels and onshore detention centres. By 2022 most were released into the Australian community.

What’s happening now

Officially designated ‘transitory persons’, the refugees live amongst us mostly on bridging visas which give them work rights, but deny them the safety net of Centrelink Benefits and reliable access to Medicare. The Labor government’s position remains that they will never be allowed to settle in Australia, and so they must apply to a third country for resettlement. Some have gone to the USA, Canada and New Zealand; but others languish with no active application, often because they are too unwell or distressed about the prospect of yet another upheaval when they have begun to make connections, and build a life, in Australia. Some have waited 18 months since their interview with a third country, only to see their application rejected. All those on Nauru are to be brought to Australia by June 30 2023. The Australian government has washed its hands of about 60 who remain on PNG. Meanwhile all these people, mostly young men, have lost a formative decade, and continue to mourn the squandering of their lives.

Our response

(image: Refugees and supporters outside the Park Hotel, Carlton, 2022)

The Centre for a Compassionate Society has advocated, over many years, for the human rights of refugees and asylum seekers who sought Australia’s protection. We have particularly focused our efforts on those affected by Operation Sovereign Borders. We initiated the Freedom Cage project, helping to bring media attention to the plight of dozens of those refugees who were incarcerated in the Park Hotel for years. We organise a weekly letter writing campaign to advocate for the humane treatment of refugees.

Has there been any change?

Since it was elected in May 2022, the Albanese Labor government has made some significant changes to Australia’s treatment of refugees. Within weeks of taking office, they demonstrated how easy it is to be merciful, by granting permanency to the high profile ‘Biloela’ family, and Prime Minister Albanese made the most of a photo opportunity with them. His government has granted pathways to permanent residency for about 18,000 people who arrived in Australia before Operation Sovereign Borders came into force, and who had been living for a decade in the community on TPVs (Temporary Protection Visas) and SHEVs (Safe Haven Enterprise Visas). But they have remained intransigent on the issue of those affected by Operation Sovereign Borders, cruelly insisting – after all that Australia has inflicted on them – that they are not welcome to make a home here.