2017-02-14
The Labor and Liberal Parties have voted down a Greens motion which opposed the forced deportations of people seeking asylum on Manus Island.
"Labor and Coalition Senators have today washed their collective hands of responsibility for people seeking asylum who have not had their applications for refugee status assessed in line with the Refugee Convention," Greens Immigration spokesperson Senator Nick McKim said.
"This was a motion supporting basic human rights for those who have already suffered too greatly at Australia’s hands."
"This government is allowing these cruel deportations to go ahead because they have no solution for the people languishing in their illegal detention centre on Manus Island."
"Labor, who opened this illegal centre, has completely lost its moral compass and is ignoring what is happening."
"This is a humanitarian crisis, but it has a simple solution - close the camps, and bring every single person who is detained offshore to Australia."
Notice of Motion
1. That the Senate notes:
I. That the Papua New Guinea government has commenced the removal of detainees from the Lombrum Regional Processing Centre for the purpose of forcibly deporting them from Papua New Guinea;
II. Advice from Professor Jane McAdam of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at the University of New South Wales which states:
a. “Papua New Guinea’s refugee status determination process is inconsistent with international law in a number of significant respects.”
b. “As United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has noted, the Regulation [Papua New Guinea’s Migration Regulation] ‘incorrectly applies the limited exclusion provisions of the Refugee Convention to ordinary criminal matters more properly dealt with under Papua New Guinea criminal law, which could lead to wrongful denial of refugee status.’”
c. “There is a serious risk that the forcible removal of an asylum seeker from Papua New Guinea may violate international law.”
2. That the Senate agrees that the Papua New Guinea refugee status determination process is inconsistent with international law, and opposes the forced deportation from Papua New Guinea of people who have sought asylum in Australia.