Vanstone moves to soften tough-on-refugee image

Bob Briton

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone was working the media for 
all it was worth last week, trying to sell her recently announced 
increase in Australia's refugee intake for 2004-5 as a grand 
humanitarian gesture.

Evidently, most of the mainstream press bought the line being 
peddled. "Intake of refugees to rise by 50pc", read the headline 
on top of a report carried in last Wednesday's Australian. 
"Refugee intake lifted in major policy shift", said the Hobart 
Mercury.

At the same time, Vanstone was making much of what she says is a 
letter writing campaign by young school students about the 
situation of refugees. She told the John Laws radio show that the 
children appear to be simply rehashing phrases being given to 
them by teachers, who are using the children for base political 
purposes:

"They called me racist more than anything else and (they) draw 
little pictures of pigs and things, you know, 'You are a racist 
pig'. I think how dare these teachers teach the kids that their 
country is racist and unwelcoming when we are a world leader and 
they should be teaching the kids to be proud of what their 
country is doing."

Senator Vanstone was desperately trying to appear the victim in 
the refugee and detention centre debate after months of 
projecting a tough "we'll fight them on the beaches" kind of 
image. The Howard Government may well be thinking that the asylum 
seekers issue is losing its election-winning appeal.

However, while the PR approach has changed — and contrary to 
what sources in the bosses' media are saying — there has been no 
major policy shift in favour of refugees seeking safety in 
Australia. The latest changes are not so generous on closer 
examination.

First of all, there will only be 1000 additional new refugees 
accepted into Australia next year — not 2000. The other 1000 
places mentioned have been pinched from another government 
program. The number of special humanitarian places will actually 
drop from 8000 to 7000.

So, while the number of refugees being accepted by Australia may 
well be going up from 4000 to 6000 next year, overall numbers to 
be given sanctuary will only rise from 12,000 to 13,000. This 
will have a negligible impact on the various refugee crises 
afflicting the world's people right now and is way below the 
capacity of a developed country like Australia.

The decision in advance to take approximately 75 per cent of the 
additional applicants from Africa is also sending out a message. 
It hangs out the "Not Welcome" sign to the thousands of people 
from the Middle East, Afghanistan and elsewhere who have been 
queuing for years in places like Indonesia for consideration.

Last year Australia took 84 of these people, the year before they 
took 39 and just two (!) in 2001. Even in these cases, as Jack 
Smit of Project SafeCom points out, Australia takes from one to 
two years to resettle the refugees after the granting of UNHCR 
approval. New Zealand manages the same process in a matter of 
weeks.

Senator Vanstone still plans to have the Navy intercept the frail 
boats carrying those asylum seekers who cannot bear their 
situation any longer. They will still be turned around or taken 
for the "offshore processing" program called the "Pacific 
Solution".

The paltry increase announced last week will not make up for the 
ongoing abuse of basic human rights and the mental anguish being 
suffered by those in detention in Australia and offshore.

Senator Vanstone was using the announcement to head off another 
potentially embarrassing confrontation over Australia's treatment 
of asylum seekers. Ruud Lubbers, the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees, was making a rare visit to Australia. Mr Lubbers has 
criticised aspects of the Australian Government's behaviour 
towards refugees.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer chimed in with news of a $12.6 
million grant to the UNHCR's annual program budget and another 
$4.6 million to help with the repatriation of Afghan refugees to 
their strife-torn homeland. "Sometimes there are extraneous 
outside events that help focus the mind of your colleagues", 
Vanstone told John Laws in explanation for the flurry of good 
news stories coinciding with Mr Lubbers' arrival.

As the government attempts to manipulate and bolster its 
international image and dwindling election prospects, behind the 
scenes, the same old anti-refugee agenda grinds on. The Coalition 
party room recently approved plans to reintroduce time limits for 
the consideration of migration cases in the courts and to further 
restrict the number of appeals available to refugee applicants.