[ETAN-key] NGO signature request on Australia -- deadline extension

[Karen Orenstein]

Dear Friends -

Please consider adding your signature to the NGO statement below to 
Australia's Prime Minister Howard -- protesting proposed draconian 
refugee legislation. _*The deadline for signatures has been extended to 
Tuesday, May 9*_. The proposed refugee policy, known as the "Pacific 
Solution," has drawn expressions of "serious concern" from UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) officials and has been roundly 
criticized by human rights groups within Australia and internationally. 
Details about the proposed policy are contained in the NGO statement below.

Howard faces resistance to this policy, even within his own party, 
indicating that strong public reaction could cause the government to 
relent, at a minimum with regard to some of the more onerous provisions. 
To sign on, please email your name, title, and organization by May 9.

While we appreciate individuals' support, the letter is open only to NGOs.


Signers so far: Human Rights Watch; WestPAN: Canada's West Papua Action 
Network; fPcN interCultual; Pacific Peoples' Partnership;  North 
Carolina Peace Action; Australians for a Free West Papua; Seattle 
International Human Rights Committee; Jews Against Genocide; Women 
Against Military Madness; Agir pour Timor, France; Robert F. Kennedy 
Memorial Center for Human Rights; Nicaragua Center for Community Action; 
Wheaton Franciscans; Albert Schweitzer Institute; Sisters of the Holy 
Cross Congregation Justice Committee, Notre Dame, Indiana; Indonesia 
Human Rights Committee Auckland New Zealand; Indonesian, Chinese, and 
American Network; Pax Christi USA; Global Exchange; American Kurdish 
Information Network; Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition 
International; Institute on Religion and Public Policy; 
Interparliamentary Conference on Human Rights and Religious Freedom

Thank you for your consideration and solidarity,
Karen Orenstein



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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.

 

Any refugees that 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 their 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.




-- 
Karen Orenstein
National Coordinator 
East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN)
202-544-6911 (t/f), www.etan.org


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