The mandatory detention has no community support: Labor-Greens government should abolish this inhumane policy

The recent poll on offshore processing system which showed that majority of Australians oppose inhumane treatment of refugees has proved our long time argument. The Social Justice Network has argued for the few years that Australians are decent people and does not support illegal inhumane treatment of vulnerable people seeking asylum in our great nation. Even during the turbulent times where riots and mass protest hit our detention centres and the political parties represented in the parliament showed no leadership, we were arguing that Australians, while oppose such desperate actions, but understand its origin and reasons.

“The poll has showed very clearly that the majority of Australians opposes Australia give up its commitments and dishonor its obligation under Geneva Convention on Refugees Status 1951” said Jamal Daoud, spokesperson for SJN. “Not only this. This poll came after media and political hysteria came after serious desperate actions where parts of Christmas Island and Villawood detention centres were burnt and mass protests of detainees”.

Not only this. We have today the department secretary telling us that the mandatory detention is not working and there were some serious complications for this system. These serious complications include high rate of self-harm, mental health epidemics, high cost and harm to workers.

“Two months ago the minister blamed our organisation to orchestrate and organize all these. The minister and his SERCO contractors were so naive to accuse us of causing the endemics of self-harm, riots, protests and all other complications” added Jamal Daoud. “I was arrested, humiliated on the hands of police officers, banned from entering any detention centre with no written notice and accused of urging people to burn detention centres and self-harm”

“Now, we have the head of the department admit that I and my colleagues are not to be blamed for all these desperate actions. And he urged politicians to exercise the same options we gave this minister and previous minister, to solve the tremendous troubles inside our system”.

“We were the first to suggest using community accommodation for asylum seekers. We were the first to warn the minister of deep consequencies, even before the riots and mass self harm attempts happened. Instead of listening, the authorities were quick to blame us of causing all these troubles and desperate acts”.

While we are happy for the Liberal-Greens move to initiate the enquiry about the crisis in the system, we think that they should do more to handle this crisis and start relieving it. The Greens especially, as the party that championed themselves to be pro-refugee party and won a lot of votes in the last election on this issue, can even enforce the Labor to abandon its inhumane illegal practices and policies. The Greens, as a crucial partner of Labor, can enforce the government to fundamentally change the system. We saw how the Greens did enforce the Labor to introduce Carbon Tax, re-open internal debate on same-sex marriage and on other issues. The Greens is in very good position to enforce Labor into abandoning Malaysian solution, Manus Island solution and fundamentally change the current arrangement.

The Greens is interested only in political score-pointing and vote-harvesting tactics, instead of changing fundamentally a collapsing system.

The SJN is proud to be on the front line against this policy. And we will continue to oppose inhumane and illegal policies.

For media contact, Jamal Daoud can be contacted on 0404 447 272.