Asia Times: Anti-refugee law hurts Australia's image



	November 27, 1999	atimes.com

Oceania

Anti-refugee law hurts Australia's image
By Bob Burton

CANBERRA - Against staunch opposition from human rights and church groups, the Australian government has pushed through tough new legislation that will prevent some illegal immigrants from applying for asylum as refugees.

The legislation, the Border Protection Bill, was passed on Thursday afternoon. It was introduced after a wave of media-induced anti-refugee sentiment, spurred by the detention last week of six boats carrying illegal immigrants in northern Australian waters.

The legislation, which had the support of both major political parties in Parliament, prevents any person who has the right to remain for more than seven days in any country other than Australia from lodging an application for refugee status. The measures will also limit illegal arrivals to temporary visas which will bar them from family reunion programs and leave them open to deportation.

''There's a view around the world that we are an easy touch and we have been trying as a government to tighten the laws for a couple of years now,'' Prime Minister John Howard said. ''We would have presented a firmer face to would-be 'boat people' earlier if we'd been able to tighten the law earlier.''

The legislation has provoked fierce opposition from human rights, church and refugee organizations, which have branded it a breach of Australia's international obligations to refugees.

''Even with the recent boat arrivals . . . we are not under siege as the government would have us believe,'' Caroline Graydon, Amnesty International Australia's spokesperson on refugees, said. ''We have very small numbers of people seeking asylum here compared to other countries.''

Since July, 1,700 people have arrived by boat and been held in detention centers in northern Australia. Many are illegal immigrants who arrive by boat, mainly from Asia and more recently Iraq and Afghanistan. Illegal immigrants who come through airports or overstay their visas - most of these are from from the US and Britain - are not detained.

The difference in treatment between English-speaking tourists overstaying and refugees riles Graydon. ''Where are the detention centers and 'get tough' policies for them?'' she asks.

The United Church also labels the policy of automatic detention for 'boat people' as racist. But Howard rejects the church's criticism, saying: ''That is a very uninformed, unreasonable remark.''

The opposition Labor Party, under pressure from anti-refugee sentiments canvassed on conservative radio talk-back shows, supported the amendments. Yet, the opposition's immigration spokesman, Con Sciacca, was skeptical that the new measures would make any difference: ''I have got serious doubts that it is going to deter people from coming here.''

The Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Phillip Ruddock, has defended the measures. ''When we have been able to put in place measures that address the 'pull factors', we see the numbers tail off,'' he said.

This argument has little support from Amnesty International. ''Ruddock constantly speaks of the 'pull factor' for refugees. What he ignores is the 'push factor','' Graydon said. ''Afghans and Iraqis are coming not because they see Australia as a 'soft target' and are 'queue jumpers' but because Iran has tired of the failure of the international community to provide funds or organized resettlement of refugees and has passed laws to expel refugees by March next year.

''Instead of explaining to Australians the minimum international standards that apply to genuine refugees irrespective of how they arrive, he is instead exploiting the nasty hangover from the Hanson race debate - and creating panic and fear where none should exist.''

Pauline Hanson, the leader of the right-wing One Nation Party, proposed similar measures two years ago but they were rejected by the main political parties at the time.

Manny McNulty, the chairperson of the Refugee Claimant Support Center, said: ''The amendments contravene Australia's obligations under the UN Refugee Convention. We call on the government to focus on preventing people-smuggling schemes while still helping refugees in need.''

The government's amendments are also effectively retrospective and are aimed at preventing more than 1,600 East Timorese, many of whom have lived in Australia for the past 10 years, from applying for refugee status. The Australian government, bowing to pressure from past Indonesian governments, has argued that East Timorese should not qualify for refugee status in Australia on the grounds that they had a right to Portuguese citizenship.

Under the terms of the international refugee convention, Australia is required to permit anyone who is likely to suffer persecution in his or her own country to lodge an application for asylum and be provided with protection.

''The legislation will prevent some potential refugees from even applying for asylum,'' Graydon said. ''Having laws that offend minimum international standards, suspend the rule of law for some and set a dangerous precedent for attacks on other groups, compromises the quality of citizenship held by all of us. With laws like these on the books, Australia will be totally hypocritical if it criticizes other countries for human rights abuses.''

Not all conservatives have supported the government's crackdown on refugees. Gerard Henderson, executive director of the center-right think-tank the Sydney Institute, wrote that ''it never ceases to amaze that some conservatives who call loudly for a free trade in goods are among the first to oppose a freer movement of people''.

(Inter Press Service)