[Kabar-indonesia] Groups Urge Australia to Adopt Humane Refugee Policies Toward Papuans

[John M Miller]

Groups Urge Australia to Adopt Humane Refugee Policies Toward Papuans

Oppose Proposed Changes to Migration Law

For Immediate Release

Contact: John M. Miller (718) 596-7668; (917) 690-4391 (cell)

May 11 - In a letter to Prime Minister John Howard, 47 organizations 
based in eight countries today urged the Australian government "to 
uphold its obligations under the Refugee Convention, to recognize the 
plight of Papuans suffering brutalization on your doorstep, and to 
adopt humane refugee policies in keeping with the widely recognized 
principles of the Australian people." The organizations include human 
rights and refugee advocates, as well as religious and peace groups.

The wide range of international organizations are protesting the 
Australian government's plan to amend its law to exclude refugees 
arriving by boat without visas from a fair consideration of their 
claim. The refugees would be held in conditions described by 
observers as "inhumane."

The proposed change comes in response to the granting of protection 
visas to 42 West Papuans who landed by boat on the Australian 
mainland last January. The move angered Indonesia, which reacted by 
recalling its ambassador and demanding the return of the Papuans. The 
Australian parliament is expected to debate the changes soon.

Among the signers are Human Rights Watch; Institute on Religion and 
Public Policy; International Immigrants Foundation; Robert F. Kennedy 
Memorial Center for Human Rights; TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights 
Campaign; Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition 
International; Asia-Pacific Solidarity Coalition; Leadership 
Conference of Women Religious; Great Lakes Rural Australians for 
Refugees; and Pax Christi USA.

"The Australian government seems more interested in appeasing 
Indonesia, than living up to its obligations under international 
law," said John M. Miller of the East Timor and Indonesia Action 
Network (ETAN), which coordinated the letter, a  copy of which is 
below. A list of signers can be found at www.etan.org/news/2006/05austr.htm.

-30-

Prime Minister John Howard
c/o Embassy of Australia
1601 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20036-2273
Via facsimile: 202-797-3168

Dear Prime Minister Howard,

We, the undersigned organizations, protest in the strongest terms 
possible your government's announced plan to seek national 
legislation extending the "Pacific Solution" to anyone intercepted 
attempting to enter Australia by boat without a visa. In 2001, the 
Pacific Solution excised outlying islands from Australia's migration 
zone, thus denying refugees arriving on those islands access to just 
proceedings under Australian law. Your government's proposal would 
extend the Pacific Solution to mainland Australia, thus excluding all 
refugees arriving by boat without visas from fair consideration under 
Australian migration law. This discriminatory proposal is especially 
aimed at denying refuge to those fleeing persecution in West Papua 
and seeking asylum in Australia.

As described by officials of your government, many of the plan's 
components we believe are in violation of the 1951 Convention 
Relating to the Status of Refugees, to which Australia is a party. 
Taken as a whole, the plan constitutes an affront to the principles 
enshrined in that document. As described by your government, the 
first tier of 'defense' against fleeing refugees would be military 
patrols by Australian forces acting in collaboration with the very 
source of their persecution -- the Indonesian military.

Refugees who successfully navigate the perilous seas and joint 
military patrols to land on Australian soil will be removed to 
off-shore detention centers on Nauru, Manus Island, or Australia's 
Christmas Island. Conditions of detention at these facilities have 
been described by observers as "inhumane" and even life-threatening, 
yet under the proposed plan, even children and the infirm would not 
be spared detention under these bleak conditions. Instead, anyone 
seeking asylum would remain in detention, with limited access to 
legal representation, for the duration of his or her asylum 
proceedings. Without the protection of Australian migration law, 
which does not apply in off-shore locations, asylum seekers would 
have no opportunity to appeal asylum decisions, and even those found 
to be legitimate refugees would have to remain off-shore until 
resettlement to a third country could be arranged.

The Refugee Convention calls on parties not to penalize refugees 
directly fleeing persecution and seeking asylum. UNHCR officials have 
publicly expressed concern that the "Pacific Solution" would 
constitute such a penalty.

The recent decision of Australian immigration officials to grant 
asylum to 42 Papuan refugees after a harrowing five-day open sea 
voyage demonstrates that persecution is a reality in West Papua. 
Threats against Papuans by Indonesian military and other security 
officials are not hypothetical.

We call upon your government to uphold its obligations under the 
Refugee Convention, to recognize the plight of Papuans suffering 
brutalization on your doorstep, and to adopt humane refugee policies 
in keeping with the widely recognized principles of the Australian people.


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ETAN welcomes your financial support. For more info: 
http://etan.org/etan/donate.htm

John M. Miller         Internet: fbp at igc.org

National Coordinator
East Timor & Indonesia Action Network:

48 Duffield St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668      Fax: (718)222-4097
Mobile phone: (917)690-4391
Web site: http://www.etan.org

Send a blank e-mail message to info at etan.org to find out
how to learn more about East Timor on the Internet

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