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I remember the 250,000 Cambodians in Site Two by the Thai border, and among them Chea, the sister of a friend, who died when the camp was shelled. I remember the many who spent years in Australian detention centres, and the sadness of watching as the light went out of the eyes of those detained for more than six months.
The Rudd Government is pursuing the same unprincipled border protection strategy for which it criticised the Howard Government. It could better assist these refugees by asking the Sri Lankan Government why so many Tamils are fleeing the country, especially if the war is over.
One night 11 years ago I joined members of a local police commando to report on a mission to intercept Mozambique refugees travelling into South Africa. It is easier to 'tolerate the intolerance' in under-resourced, refugee-deluged South Africa than in Australia.
This week the Refugee Council of Australia marks Refugee Week and World Refugee Day. At Petchabun camp, 350 kilometres north of Bangkok, thousands of 'forgotten' Hmong refugees remain in limbo. Their future looks bleak.
Whether the African component of the immigration quota has been reduced too sharply is a matter of judgment. But it is part of the necessary business of government to evaluate the relative need of different groups, and also to ask which groups of refugees will best be helped by resettlement.
Using anecdotal evidence to back up government policy is dangerous. There are as many positive anecdotes about Africans as Minister Andrews has negative. Teaching refugees, you build relationships, offer students the opportunity to express themselves, and know that their life stories are respected.
Israel is yet to justify its deportation of 48 Sudanese asylum seekers in August. It appears this action could be part of a blanket closed door policy that precludes the proper assessment of asylum claims according to Israel's legal and ethical obligations.
For those of us who already regularly shopped, banked, studied and worked via the Internet, it was easy to adapt to telehealth appointments with doctors and video calls with friends and family. Of course, these activities require access to the Internet — something 2.5 million Australians are without. A further 4 million access the Internet solely using a mobile connection. For these citizens, the pandemic exacerbated the existing digital divide.
Last Thursday, Facebook blocked news content in Australia. Many of us had been expecting this in response to the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code. But the breadth and severity of what occurred was brutal. The content blocked was not only that of large media companies. Public interest, not-for-profit, and religious media — many of whom rely heavily on Facebook to share messages with their readers — were blocked as well.
Despite talk against ‘vaccine nationalism’ the pharmaceutical companies are ultimately beholden to investors and shareholders. Their effectiveness percentages are pitches. They will sell to those who can afford to buy. And naturally that’s wealthy countries.
Many refugees in Australia live in conditions that the rest of the population would find unacceptable. Most of the 192 refugees who were transferred to Australia under the Medevac legislation between February and December 2019 are currently held at hotels in Melbourne and Brisbane, known as ‘alternative places of detention’ (APOD), where they have had no access to the outdoors or fresh air for more than 12 months.
With all the congratulations that have been going around following Melbourne achieving zero COVID-19 cases there is one group that has been entirely overlooked. These particular people remain in a prolonged form of hotel quarantine, unable to mix with the general public. They are refugees and asylum seekers brought to Australia under the now defunct Medevac legislation from Nauru and Manus Island.
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