Statement – Amnesty International Refugee Rights Group and the Tassie Nannas, 8 July 2021
End the Trauma and Shame – Release and Resettle Refugees
On 19 July this year it will have been eight long years since PM Kevin Rudd announced: “As of today, asylum seekers who come here by boat without a visa will never be settled in Australia.”
All over the country Australians will be calling on the Government to terminate the offshore arrangements with Nauru and PNG, and end eight years of trauma and shame. Refugees need safe resettlement now.
Amnesty International Refugee Rights Group and the Tassie Nannas will meet at 12.15 p.m. on Monday, 19 July and march from the Elizabeth Street Mall to Senator Jonathon Duniam’s office, 85 Macquarie Street.
Since 2013, thousands of men, women and children have been subjected to offshore detention on either Nauru or in Papua New Guinea. In late 2018 the Kids Off Nauru campaign resulted in all children and their families being brought to Australia. Many of these children were severely traumatised, and some still experience emotional difficulties. None of these people have been resettled here – most have been held in community detention on bridging visas, without the right to work. Eight years after seeking safety in Australia they still have no certainty about their future.
Including the families evacuated from Nauru, over 1,161 refugees have been medically evacuated to Australia, and around 100 of these people still remain in detention. Those released are not eligible for Centrelink payments. After eight years in limbo, with no work experience in Australia, many are not able to find and hold steady jobs.
Carol Bristow, spokesperson for the Refugee Rights Group, stated: “We cannot continue to look away. These people are somebody’s sons and daughters. They dream of education, employment and the chance to live in safety. We have taken away their youth and wasted precious years – we need to end the harm now.”
The costly offshore arrangements with PNG and Nauru must be terminated, and the refugees remaining there should be brought to Australia or resettled in New Zealand – the New Zealand Government is willing and ready to offer to resettle these people.
It’s time for Australia to stop the cruel treatment of refugees and people seeking asylum, and reset our policies to fairness and compassion.
