Time to End Offshore Detention

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Four years after the Australian Government announced that asylum-seekers attempting to arrive in Australia by boat would “never” be resettled in Australia, humanitarian and development agency World Vision calls for a humane solution for more than 2000 asylum-seekers stranded on Manus Island and Nauru, including 169 children.

World Vision Australia Policy and Advocacy Director Susan Anderson said parliamentary inquiries and international investigations had repeatedly exposed a catalogue of alleged physical, sexual and psychological abuse, while a supposed resettlement agreement with the United States announced eight months ago had not resulted in a single resettlement.

“The policies of a succession of Australian governments have left these people living in permanent states of limbo,” Ms Anderson said.

“The only humane solution is to end offshore detention now and bring those people to Australia because seeking asylum is a fundamental human right.

“World Vision calls on all sides of politics to commit to immediately close the camps and to evacuate the remaining refugees and asylum seekers to safety.

“All people have the right to live in peace. Australia can welcome these people who are fleeing persecution and conflict and give them the chance to rebuild their lives.”

Ms Anderson said it was clear that even if the US resettlement deal went ahead, not everyone on Manus and Nauru would be offered that option, with reports it would cover no more than 1250 people.

“Australia needs a plan for those that won’t be resettled in the US, and in our view, Australia has a legal and moral obligation to bring them to Australia,” she said.

“We cannot keep shifting responsibility to other countries, and every time we do we cause more harm. We have a responsibility to bring them here.”

For interview, contact Stuart Rintoul 0407 241 492

Syrian refugee Shaima: "We were in our village when the missiles and bombs hit. All of the houses were destroyed. An explosion happened at the back of the school, so, that’s when I stopped going. I could hear loud screaming from the pain. I told my father we should leave. When we walked in the sun from the early morning, it got very hot in the afternoon. On the journey my sister got sunstroke and died. I don’t feel I can talk to my mother about my sister’s death, because she’s grieving for my sister a lot. I don’t like to see tears on her face. I felt sad—our family was very close, and suddenly, we were torn apart. I wish I could turn back time but there is nothing I could do." (Picture: Alex Whittle, World Vision) 

More than 65 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced from their homes. Among them are 22 million refugees, more than half of whom are children.

 

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