Labor government should act to relieve crises, not produce new ones

Today’s transfer of asylum seekers from Christmas Island’s detention centre to Villawood DC is a clear indication of the total failure of the Australian current policy in dealing with global refugees’ crisis. Instead of taking proactive steps to face the crisis, the Australian government is still lagging behind its Western democracies counterpart.

“The Labor government should have acted immediately after was elected 2007 to end the previous government’s highly inhumane practices” said Jamal Daoud, spokesperson of Social Justice Network (SJN). “Such practices that include giving up sovereignty on some of Australian territories, wasting billions of tax-payers money on bribes to neighboring countries and stepping naval patrols and detaining people in remote islands where there is no basic services (including basic health services)”

The Labor government’s approach in this regard was similar to its approach to other crises and issues. The Labor government continued the same failed policies of previous government until things escalated to the point of crisis. The government then acted on run, with no deep changes to policy and approach.

By doing this, the Labor government is attracting criticism from all sides. We are witnessing the Liberal’s insensitive hysterical comments that aim to beat on racist drums, despite the fact that the Labor government is following the Liberals approach in this regard. The government also attracted criticism from progressive organisations defending human rights.

It is very clear that transferring hundreds of asylum seekers to mainland’s detention centres will not solve the problem. The issue of asylum seeking is directly related to the escalating global refugee’s crisis. Such crisis that Australian government participated in its escalation by participating in invading Iraq and Afghanistan. The Australian government cannot avoid its commitments and obligations to help relieving this escalating crisis.

“Australia, as a member of the coalition states who participated in destroying Afghanistan and Iraq, should stand up for their international responsibilities and accept all Iraqi and Afghani asylum seekers”


“Labor’s hesitation to end the suffering of around 2 thousand asylum seekers waiting in Indonesia for between 3 – 7 years for a third country to take them, is the real basis for today’s move”.


Many of these stranded people have family members in Australia, who can look after them and facilitate their smooth integration. Their Australian relatives had applied to the government to end their ordeal by granting them humanitarian visas that will cost Australia minimal financial commitments. The government had refused most of applications for humanitarian visa.

While the network supports the Labor government’s more lenient treatment of arriving asylum seekers, but urges it to take further steps.

The Labor government should reverse the regulations that exclude thousands of Australian islands from migration zones. Australia should resume its global leadership on humanitarian issues by restoring Australian humanitarian commitments. Australia should also increase its quota of refugees accepted. This will defuse calls from the Liberals to play on race card again.

Australia is a signatory to the 1951 Geneva Convention to protect refugees and the subsequent protocol. This convention guarantees the rights of refugees and asylum seekers to move from their country of origin to any country they think will give them safety and freedom.

The Network will continue its campaign to lobby the government to change its approach to this issue fundamentally. In a time when we are witnessing the true and full impact of devastating mandatory detention policy on thousands of refugees who were detained in Australia’s detention centre (and now became recipients of Disability Support Pension) and our bid to get massive compensation for those affected, we urge the government to end the source of such dreadful practices.

Labor government should spend the billions of tax-payers money on ways to relieve the crisis by smooth and humane way of status determination and then on settlement services to facilitate their integration. Instead of wasting these huge amounts of money on producing devastated people with many disabilities.

For more information, you can contact Jamal Daoud on 0404 447 272