Ministers O’Neil and Giles must seize opportunity to restore humanity and fairness to refugee policy in Australia
The Human Rights Law Centre has welcomed the appointment of Clare O’Neil as the Minister for Home Affairs and Andrew Giles as the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs and has called on them to take action to end a decade of cruelty against refugees and people seeking safety.
Josephine Langbien, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre said:
“Minister O’Neil and Minister Giles have an important opportunity to change the way people seeking safety are treated in Australia. For too long, our policies have been driven by cruelty and fear. People fleeing persecution have lost years of their lives to abuse and mistreatment by the Australian Government. Families have been intentionally ripped apart and hundreds of children were denied safe childhoods. Fourteen people who were held in offshore detention have died under the Australian Government’s watch.
"There is much work to be done to restore humanity and dignity to Australia’s refugee protection system. By ending temporary protection, shutting down offshore detention, addressing the crisis in immigration detention, bringing families back together and restoring our humanitarian resettlement program, the new government can allow thousands of people to finally rebuild their lives in safety.
“The new Ministers have immense power over the lives of people who have come to Australia for their safety and their future. The Australian community expects that power to be exercised with fairness and compassion.”
The Human Rights Law Centre has outlined five steps that Ministers O’Neil and Giles could begin taking today:
Deliver on the Albanese Government’s promise to end the use of temporary protection and provide permanent safety to more than 19,000 people currently living in limbo on temporary protection visas. The disastrous ‘Fast Track’ system that underpinned these visas must be replaced with a fair refugee determination process that complies with international human rights standards, and people refused protection must have access to a fair process or other pathways to permanency, after living for so many years as members of the Australian community.
Shut down offshore detention for good and provide safety, certainty and justice for every person who has suffered in Nauru or Papua New Guinea. The Australian Government’s role in the atrocities that have occurred offshore must be investigated and those responsible must be held to account.
Address the crisis in Australian immigration detention, where people are ripped from their families and communities and detained in prison-like conditions for an average of 697 days, with no way to challenge the fairness of their detention or their treatment while locked up.
Bring families back together by drastically overhauling the family migration system and ending the intentional separation of refugee families. Reuniting with loved ones should be fair, fast and accessible for everyone.
Restore and expand our humanitarian resettlement program to bring more people to safety in Australia each year, and work with our neighbouring countries to establish safe and effective pathways for people who are seeking safety.
Media contact:
Michelle Bennett, Engagement Director, 0419 100 519, michelle.bennett@hrlc.org.au