Refugees on Manus Island are being held in conditions Amnesty International has described as “cruel, inhuman, degrading and violating prohibitions against torture.”[1] The report details the experience of approximately 1,100 male asylum seekers in the Manus Island detention centre. Pirate Party Australia is critical of the current approach and calls for a regional solution to the issue of refugees that upholds human rights and treats asylum seekers with dignity.
Among some of the issues raised by Amnesty International are the lack of adequate drinking water, absence of basic hygiene, nonexistent shade and shelter, and insufficient toilet and shower facilities. As a nation that has prided itself on adherence to human rights, common decency, quality medical treatment and the concept of a fair go, Australia’s treatment of refugees is shameful and represents a new low in modern Australian history.
“If our government is going to insist on maintaining a regime of offshore detention for asylum seekers, then they must treat the detainees in a manner that is better than vindictive torture. If we continue a course of action that detains refugees in tropical climates, the very least we can do is ensure that the conditions we subject them to are not going to make them sick, disabled, mentally ill or at risk of death because we cannot even give them the basic necessities to cope with such a climate. We as a nation are surely better than that,” said Brendan Molloy, Councillor of Pirate Party Australia.
The Pirate Party’s own refugee policy is based around regional cooperation and encouraging other nations to join the Refugee Convention. The emphasis of the policy is on encouraging all nations in the region to work together to process refugees, so that people need not travel all the way to Australia in dangerous and costly conditions to seek asylum. Responsibility for processing and re-settlement of refugees would be shared among participating nations, and harsh deterrence measures would not be necessary. Rather than deter risky sea voyages through impossible immigration measures and horrendous treatment, the Party favours an approach that allows people to apply for asylum as close to home as possible.
“We as a nation have a duty of care to people for whom, like it or not, we are now responsible,” Mr Molloy continued. “To subject people to what amounts to torture, either through some misguided punishment policy, or alternately through a lack of care or sheer incompetence, is utterly unnecessary. To subject people to conditions that foster disease, illness and suicide shows the Government is not competently pursuing policies to save the lives of those who may drown at sea.”
“What we need is a sensible, well-resourced policy for dealing with asylum seekers in a manner that is befitting a developed nation that has the means and resources to care for those who are incapable of doing so for themselves. Putting the burden on the region as a whole to maintain human rights and work together to improve refugee handling is an avenue that should be pursued as a matter of priority,” Mr Molloy concluded.
For the Pirate Party’s full policy on asylum seekers and refugees, see: https://pirateparty.org.au/wiki/Policies/Asylum_Seekers_and_Refugees
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