Over the last month, over 200 asylum seekers have drowned at sea on their voyage. If they had been intercepted while at sea, or made landfall, they would have been taken to an island for identification and screening. Those who were rescued were taken to the island. Once interviewed, they could wait some time before getting any residence.
What makes this story different to the Australian experience is the attitude of the receiving country. The asylum seekers were from several African countries and Syria. The rescuing and receiving country was Italy.
Italy is one of the major European countries that receives thousands of asylum seekers and irregular migrants by boat every year. The island of Lampadusa has become a first stop in the assessment process, then people are transferred to Sicily or the mainland of Italy. Permanent resettlement can take some time, but apart from the initial screening they are not detained. Nor are they sent to an impoverished developing country for resettlement.
In fact, when the deaths at sea were reported, the Italian Government announced a day of mourning, and some local towns had their own commemorative events. The Italian president called it a 'slaughter of innocents' and the Pope called it vergogna — shameful, or a disgrace — that so many people died at sea, and that the Navy and coastal services were unable to rescue them. Other small towns have openly welcomed the refugees.
In Australia, the Prime Minister and Immigration Minister refer to such people as 'illegal entrants'. They demonised them in opposition, and now proceed to punish then in government.
In Australia, an initial screening is done before the people are sent to Nauru — an impoverished Pacific island that is unable to care for its own people and is totally dependent on aid — or Papua New Guinea, a mostly undeveloped and traditional village culture lacking basic health and education services for its own people.
After the tragedy at Christmas Island in 2010, Scott Morrison criticised the then Labor Government for offering to pay for the travel costs of families of those who had lost relatives in the tragedy. He later stepped back slightly, saying his comments were right, but not their timing. In Italy, a state funeral for those who died will be held.
In the Australian scenario, those who help the people to travel are prosecuted and given mandatory prison sentences, regardless of their level of culpability. Free advice and legal services will be withdrawn, and the only visa the putative refugees will get is a temporary protection visa, which means that for at least five years, they will not be able to sponsor their immediate family or travel to see their family in a third country.
Neither major party comes out of this very well. Deterrence from undertaking dangerous sea voyages was a dominant factor in the Labor policies, but the Coalition has added to this with punishment of the asylum seekers with the TPV and turn-back policies. Saving lives at sea is important, but it should not be tied to policies which emphasise punishment of people seeking protection.
We seem to forget that if the asylum seekers are successful in their claims, they are termed refugees; not illegals, irregular maritime arrivals, offshore entry persons or any of the other linguistic phrase that tends to obscure their stories of fear of persecution.
Italians are not necessarily more ethical than Australians, but certainly the attitude of their government and local officials is in stark contrast with our own. There are many Australians of good will who spend time and money to assist asylum seekers but it seems their good works are overshadowed by official attitudes of punishment and demonisation. Maybe that is our vergogna.
Kerry Murphy is a partner with the specialist immigration law firm D'Ambra Murphy Lawyers. He is a student of Arabic, former Jesuit Refugee Service coordinator, teaches at ANU and was recognised by AFR best lawyers survey as one of Australia's top immigration lawyers.
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