The latest news as of this past summer 2016 is buzzing concerning the refugee crisis. While the rest of the world is eager for a mutually beneficial solution, Australia just wants to make the refugees, the problems as a whole to just go away. Australia’s aim has been and still is to stop refugees from even reaching the country. There are two major parties that are opposed to the admission of refugees: the Liberal/National Coalition and the center-left Labor Party. Australia’s deliberate turning back of refugees conveys deliberate violation and breach of international law. First, what is a refugee; and secondly, what law exactly is Australia ignoring to comply with? The International Justice Resource Center in their online article on the “Asylum and The Rights of Refugees,” defines a refugee in accordance with Article 1(A)(2) of the 1951 Convention “as an individual who is outside his or her country of nationality or habitual residence who is who is unable or unwilling to return due to well-founded fear of persecution based on his or her race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group (http://www.ijrcenter.org/refugee-law/). Now the International laws have a history with origins dating way back to the post-World War II effects and the refugee crises in between those wars. Article 14(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 “guarantees the right to seek and be granted asylum in a foreign territory, in accordance with the legislation of the State and international conventions” (http://www.ijrcenter.org/refugee-law/). Many refugees from Middle Eastern countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq; as well as from Zimbabwe, Southern Sudan, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka have flooded boats on their way to Australia.
Additionally, the refugees that do reach the shores are being interrogated and even jailed before being coerced to returning to their homelands. The treatment of these asylum seekers is so sad. Being tortured for seeking freedom, peace, and protection impedes the nation from being an actual, true framework for achieving protection. The UN made allegations against Australia’s Prime Minister, Toby Abbott concerning such inhumane treatment of the refugees. The allegations accused Abbott of violating the rights of asylum seekers, including children; refusing them the right to be free from torture, cruel, and dehumanizing treatment. And Toby Abbott dismissed these same allegations. Mr. Abbott’s stance is to deny resettlement of refugees on Australian lands. He defends his reasoning claiming to be preoccupied with the potential people smuggling trade if Australia allowed this refugee resettlement to occur. According to Abbott, stopping the boats would discourage asylum seekers, and therefore, is the only situation. However, he is more than happy to delegate such humanitarian responsibility unto the country’s neighbors in South and East Asia with a promise to offer assistance to those neighboring countries. Abbott’s ‘not my problem’ stance is utterly disgusting. In an online article from The Sydney Morning Herald, Abbott further commented on his position with the issue stating, “I’m sorry. If you want to start a new life, you come through the front door, not through the back door” (http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/01/opinions/australia-refugee-policy-united-nations/index.html); an ill sentiment, insensitive, and haughty comment at its best. Australia has refrained from commenting on the human rights violations unto the public. Perhaps, Abbott, should have refrained from such detrimental decisions as well. In addition, while the civil war in Sri Lanka is drawing to a close, Abbott had already secured assistance with Sri Lankan Prime Minster Ranil Wickremasinghe in preventing Sri Lankans from running to Australia. With Australia’s tough policy on immigration, it will be extremely difficult for the nation to successfully lobby for a seat with the UN Human Rights Council beginning in 2018 to 2020. The offshore detention center in Papa New Guinea that Australia moved the refugees to has as of April 2016 been rule unconstitutional by the Papa New Guinea Supreme Court. Secretary-General Ban has since November 2015 pushed the Australian government to recognize its international obligations toward refugees. Given that Australia has accepted only but a few hundred refugees, it is obvious that it should build on policies being followed by the other 33 countries in the equitable sharing or responsibility
for refuges.
The situation in Australia concerning refugees is no different than what has occurred and/or occurring in other nations like the United States, Canada, etc. Turning the boats around is like a hospital denying a patient medical attention because he or she has no health insurance and no means to pay for that necessary surgical procedure. Everything about serving people boils down to being strictly a business. And I doubt Abbott’s fear of possible “people smuggling” is not the issue. His issue is obviously a social one. He is more concerned about how to further distribute the wealth among the refugees, making sure they are well-fed, receiving fair and just treatment, and the fact that refugees cannot be productive members in society helping to pump money into Australian society.
Australia & Oceania 