From the reinstatement of offshore processing for refugees arriving by boat ten years ago, injustice to refugees continues, and is planned to continue into an era of ever-increasing climate refugees

By Janet Parker, Refugee Rights Action Network

"I have been tortured for several months. With a shattered body which was ravenously hungry and deeply wounded, with bare feet and exhausted soul, I made the trip to the soil of free territory, to the soil of freedom, to Australia. It was exactly four days after the announcement of the 19 July law. By the implementation of this law, I was exiled to Manus prison, in the heart of the Pacific Ocean; and as a result of this law, I have been for several months”. This account from Behrouz Boochani, arriving by boat just four days after the then Kevin Rudd government announced that any asylum seeker arriving by boat would never be allowed to settle in Australia and would be imprisoned offshore. 

Since this policy of indefinite exile to Manus Island and Nauru was announced, at least 14 people have died offshore or after being evacuated to Australia for medical attention. There have been countless reports and testimonies detailing the human rights violations, violence and abuse this policy has engendered.

July 19, 2023 will mark ten years of this tortuous ruling, a policy endorsed and promoted by both Labor and Liberal. Later in 2013, the Liberal-National Coalition won power and forged Operation Sovereign Borders, the military led border security operation that continues to this day. The powers-that-be crow about the success of this policy; that it has stemmed the “tide” of boats. The reality is boats still come but we are no longer told about them. They are turned back to sea where drownings won’t come under our gaze or impinge on our consciousness.

While the Manus Island prison was closed at the insistence of the PNG government which recognised its unlawfulness, Nauru has continued. This week, we are told that the last of those on Nauru are expected to be transferred either to temporary visas in Australia or resettled in a third country. But this does not signal the end of offshore detention.

The Federal Labor government has announced its intention to spend $350 million a year to maintain the Nauru prison as a “contingency” to send people in the event of future boat arrivals. This is obscene.

In a recent visit to Australia, the UN High Commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi said “myopic” policies of deterrence, and slogans like “stop the boats” are ineffective in addressing the movement of asylum seekers across the world. There needs to be greater cooperation between nations he concluded. When you consider the estimated number of “climate refugees” will be in excess of 1.2 billion by 2050, there surely has to be a global solution – one of cooperation and humanity, not punishment and deterrence.

On July 22, from 1pm, the Refugee Rights Action Network (RRAN) in collaboration with all those seeking justice for refugees will coordinate a performative, creative event in Perth’s Cultural Centre, between PICA and the State Library. “Ten Years Too Long. Permanent Visas for all Refugees” is the theme of the National Day of Action.

We urge members and supporters of the Greens to join us, to help us to prepare all the materials we need and be there on the day to hold banners, to read stories and trace the history of refugee policy over the last ten years. Come and help us demand a better, more humane world.

See our Facebook page for updates and details of preparatory workshops for the event.

_{[Opinions expressed are those of the author and not official policy of Greens WA]}