HRLC calls for new ministers to take action on Australian refugee policy

Newly appointed Minister for Home Affairs and Minister of Immigration, Clare O’Neil and Andrew Giles, have been met with pleas from the Human Rights Law Centre calling for an overhaul of Australia’s current refugee policies.

Adrian Suljanovic • 06 June 2022 • Politics

Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, Josephine Langbien, called the current policies as being “driven by cruelty and fear,” and said that the Australian government is presented with an important opportunity to reshape the way people seek safety in this country.

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“Families have been intentionally ripped apart and hundreds of children were denied safe childhoods. Fourteen people who were held in offshore detention have died under the Australian Government’s watch,” Ms Langbien said.

“There is much work to be done to restore humanity and dignity to Australia’s refugee protection system.”

Five steps have been outlined by the Human Rights Law Centre for the ministers.

The Albanese government to honour the promise they made to end the use of temporary protection and provide permanent safety to more than 19,000 refugees “currently living in limbo temporary protection visas.”
Shut down offshore detention indefinitely and “provide safety, certainty and justice for every person who has suffered in Nauru or Papua New Guinea.” Furthermore, an investigation should be opened on the Australian government’s role and those responsible to be held accountable for their actions.
Report on the crisis in Australian immigration detention.

“People are ripped from their families and communities and detained in prison-like conditions for an average of 697 days, with no way to challenge the fairness of their detention or their treatment while locked up.”

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Timely and accessible reunions for torn-apart families by radically overhauling the family migration system and ending the deliberate separation of refugee families.
A restoration and expansion of the Human Rights Law Centre’s resettlement program to bring more refugees to safety in Australia each year, as well as working with neighbouring countries in order to establish safe pathways for people seeking asylum.

Ms Langbien stated: “The new Ministers have immense power over the lives of people who have come to Australia for their safety and their future. The Australian community expects that power to be exercised with fairness and compassion.”

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