- The Minister has disclosed that up to 12 people on the hunger-strike have stitched their lips closed. This is from the newsfeeds: "The detainees are demanding their claims for refugee status be processed immediately. They also want to be transferred to an open camp in Perth. Mr Ruddock says the demands are unreasonable and the government will not be intimidated."
- It should be noted that in a report by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission some time ago, the practices of chemical sedation of trouble-makers, force-feeding of hunger-strikers, and the removal of protest organisers to the regular prison system is not uncommon in the refugee camps.
- Last week, the Migration Amendment Act (1999) (no.2) (or, "Border Protection" Legislation) was passed. This is the latest in a long line of changes to Australian migration and refugee law which began with the introduction of mandatory, non-reviewable detention in 1992.
- The "Border Protection" law not only makes it possible to extend powers of interception of suspected boats carrying asylum-seekers to outside Australian waters, but means that even those who are able to gain acceptance of their refugee claims, if they have arrived in Australia unauthorised (ie., if they are 'boat people'), they will only ever be entitled to a 3-year visa.
- Moreover, the President of the Law Council of Australia has noted, "These new regulations will create a new sub-class of genuine refugees—refugees with no right to sponsor family or to access some forms of education; refugees with no automatic entitlement to Medicare or social security, and refugees who will face extra difficulties in finding employment because of the visas they are granted." He also said, "The Convention recognises that real refugees typically have no choice but to flee from their situation without complying with the niceties of immigration laws."
- The numbers of asylum-seekers compared to other countries is minute. 'Boat people' gain much media attention, more often than not regarded in terms of 'flooding', though numbers here are miniscule: since 1989-90, 3,568 people without papers have arrived in Australia by boat. 'Boat people' invariably signify 'Asian' in the political imaginary. The Department of Immigration has a list of countries and categories of people for whom any kind of entry into Australia is illegal (ie., poor countries and countries devastated by wars, otherly-complexioned countries) which it defines as a list of 'those at risk of overstaying their visa'. This despite the fact that most of those who overstay visa times are from the UK, US and New Zealand. Australia has in fact returned to the White Australia Policy of the pre-WWII years.
I'm in the process of writing up a longer briefing document on Australian migration and refugee politics, but the situation of the hunger-strikers held at Curtin demands immediate attention.
Angela _____________________________ Unfortunately, the relevant Ministers do not have publicly available email addresses. I've attached emails adds. for other members of parliament, including members of the Government party (Liberals) as well as Democrats, Greens and the Labor Party.
Fax to:
Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs The Hon. Philip Ruddock MP Address: Suite MF 40, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600 Fax: (02) 6273 4144
CC to:
Prime Minister The Hon. John Howard MP Fax: +61 2 6273 4100
Attorney-General The Hon. Daryl Williams AM QC MP Fax: +61 2 6273 4102
Minister for Justice and Customs Senator the Hon. Amanda Vanstone Fax: +61 2 6273 7098
Other email addresses of Australian politicians:
Democrats:
senator.allison at aph.gov.au senator.bourne at aph.gov.au senator.lees at aph.gov.au senator.murray at aph.gov.au senator.woodley at aph.gov.au senator.stott.despoja at democrats.org.au Andrew.Bartlett at democrats.org.au
Greens:
senator.brown at aph.gov.au senator.margetts at aph.gov.au
ALP:
A.Albanese.MP at aph.gov.au P.Baldwin.MP at aph.gov.au Kim.Beazley.MP at aph.gov.au Laurie.Brereton.MP at aph.gov.au Carmen.Lawrence.MP at aph.gov.au Michael.Lee.MP at aph.gov.au R.McClelland.MP at aph.gov.au M.Latham.MP at aph.gov.au Jenny.Macklin.MP at aph.gov.au Bob.McMullan.MP at aph.gov.au Lindsay.Tanner.MP at aph.gov.au Andrew.Theophanous.MP at aph.gov.au
<cut and paste below to fax/email to above> _________________
To Phillip Ruddock, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Australia.
Dear Mr. Ruddock,
The demands of the hunger-strikers held at the Curtin refugee camps should be met without any further delay.
The treatment of asylumm-seekers, who arrive in Australian without prior authorization by the Australian Government, is intolerable and unacceptable.
This treatment, including the law of mandatory, non-reviewable detention of "unlawful non-citizens" instituted in 1992, has reached truly appalling lows in the recent legislation which grants only a 3-year visa to unauthorized arrivals, even if they eventually meet the increasingly stringent criteria for refugee status. This is contrary to UN Conventions which prohibit discrimination on the basis of mode of arrival.
These laws should be repealed.
Since the legislation also gives the Minister of Immigration discretionary powers to immediately override the laws relating to mandatory detention, the demands of the hunger-strikers should and can be met immediately.
Sincerely Yours,
_________________________