100 Days Of Successful Asylum Seeker Policy—Kind Of

Image by Ben Thomson

Pop the corks, unfurl the banner, and leave your inhibitions/moral obligations at the door—it’s officially been 100 days since a boat arrival in Australia. Hasn’t it just flown by? Well unless you’re in detention that is. Uncle Tony was very eager on the weekend to announce the milestone. And by eager I mean whisper quiet, issuing a press release at 2pm on Saturday, which is essentially a timeslot where nobody would read it.

As you’d expect the government is very proud of its Operation Sovereign Borders, they quickly point to boat turn backs as successful and emphasise the reduced number of deaths at sea. But the on water matters of the last 100 days haven’t all been smooth sailing. The asylum seekers who claim to have had their hands burned by navy personnel following a boat turn back in January also claim that four passengers fell overboard on the same journey. And then there’s the allegation that three people died while trying to cross a jungle river after a boat turn back landed them on a remote Indonesian beach. These issues have largely been ignored by the government who I imagine are too busy sitting in the parliamentary cafeteria gushing about being the political equivalent of the coolest Year 12s the school’s ever had.

– International law: we love it when it’s whales, but asylum seekers, especially children—meh. Currently under Australian law asylum seekers who arrive by boat are put in detention until their claims are processed until their status is determined—a law that applies to people all ages. As of the end of February there were 929 children in immigration detention centres or alternate places of detention in Australia and 177 children offshore in Nauru. Compare this to the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child of which Australia is a signatory, that states the detention of a child “shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time". The average time children currently spend in Australian immigration detention is eight months, much longer than what is necessary for health and security checks. The result is a number of mental health issues and developmental issues, with children referring to themselves not by name but by number. – The Australian government’s pretty fond of Papua New Guinea, especially after how buddy-buddy the respective Prime Ministers were last week, just not when it comes to helping out with an investigation in to on of our detention centres. This week the PNG police requested the assistance of the Australian Federal Police for an independent observer role during interviews relating to the death of Reza Barati, to which the AFP politely declined. An AFP spokesperson highlighted that they have no jurisdiction in Papua New Guinea, and referring responsibility solely to PNG. All of this despite the AFP’s advisory role to PNG police, oh and the small detail of it being Australia’s detention centre.

– If you thought the government’s hard line approach to asylum seeker policy was limited to the beginning of the chain (stopping people from getting to Australia) than spare a minute for the some 30,000 people already in detention who are also now feeling the pinch more than ever. This week the government committed to their election promise and cut funding to assistance services that provide legal help to asylum seekers, basically reducing their rights to lower than criminals. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison discussed the budgetary savings of the cuts as $100 million over four years, while also claiming they’d be a deterrent for people considering coming to Australia. Asylum seekers will now have to rely on community members such as pro bono lawyers and refugee charity organisations to cover the cost legal assistance if they require it. Without legal assistance asylum seekers would work on their case alone with the department of immigration, the same department that tried to deter them from getting to Australia in the first place. And doesn’t that sound impartial.

Follow Mitch on Twitter: @MitchMaxxParker