Asylum seekers cruelly deceived

Peter Mac

Asylum seekers have been dealt a cruel blow by the Howard 
Government's recent changes to permanent entry requirements.

Three weeks ago the Minister for Immigration Amanda Vanstone 
announced that the 9500 holders of temporary protection visas 
would henceforth enjoy greatly enhanced opportunities to gain 
permanent visas. The news caused great rejoicing around the 
nation's immigration centres that morning.

However, this mood was quickly followed by creeping doubts about 
the government's real intentions as the hard copy of the 
Minister's announcement was circularised and scrutinised by the 
detainees and their advocates. By mid-afternoon the mood had 
turned to bitter disappointment and disillusion about the 
government's motives.

For it seems the government was motivated by electoral 
opportunism and not at all by genuine concern for the plight of 
the asylum seekers. Prior to the last elections the Howard 
Government very successfully played the redneck card over the 
Tampa crisis by convincing many voters that the increased number 
of people seeking to reach Australia from the north in leaky 
boats constituted a serious threat to the nation's security.

Circumstances have now changed, not least because of the 
revelations of the lies about "kids overboard" and the increased 
scepticism of the concocted "illegal immigrant"/"potential 
terrorist" line. The government's shabby policy stand has also 
been undermined by greater contact between recent arrivals and 
the Australian community.

Hopes short-lived

It is therefore now more expedient for the government to pose in 
a compassionate role. In this respect the protection visa system 
was an obvious area where the government believed it could 
improve its voter approval score.

However, it seems that the coalition leopard could not change its 
ideological spots. The Minister's declaration revealed that the 
new regulations would apply to those with Australian spouses, to 
those sponsored to work here by local firms and to those with 
highly developed work skills.

In short, the vast majority of the detainees will not meet the 
new requirements.

Moreover, the addition of these criteria means that the detainees 
will be subjected to another layer of applications, interviews 
and interminable delays while their cases are considered. 
Applications lodged under the new policy will not only take 
longer to consider than under the current system, it may even be 
months before the new measures are introduced.

Temporary protection visas are granted to detainees who have been 
deemed to be genuine refugees by the Refugees Review Tribunal. 
Australia is the only country in the world that requires a second 
stage of approval (for permanent protection visas) before 
applicants can be released to join the Australian community. The 
requirement actually violates the 1951 UN Convention Relating to 
the Status of Refugees to which Australia is a signatory.

During a recent visit to South Australia's Baxter Detention 
Centre, Senator Vanstone acknowledged that some asylum seekers 
had been detained there for as long as four years. Her statement 
is technically accurate but, at the same time, misleading as it 
does not mention that some detainees are moved from one centre to 
another.

Stateless detainee Peter Qasim, who claims to have come here from 
Kashmir, has been held in every detention centre in the country. 
He has now been held in custody for six years. He has been robbed 
of six of the best years of his life.

The opposition parties represented in the Australian Parliament 
have all pledged to abolish the temporary protection visa system. 
However, the Coalition clings to it. To abandon it would be to 
acknowledge that its introduction was a cruel sham, that it has 
ruined the lives of thousands of newcomers whose only "offence", 
for the most part, was to arrive seeking asylum without formal 
documentation.

The Howard Government has in effect treated the asylum seekers as 
criminals. Whereas surely it is the government which has 
committed the horrific crime of imprisoning thousands of 
desperate people — in many cases for years — for what amounts 
to electoral opportunism for the Howard Government.