Cruel Offshore Processing of Refugees a World Away

Says Pauline Pannell of Grandmothers For Refugees and Friends Fremantle

Last week as Fremantle clocked up its 300^th vigil for refugee rights, the Senate Inquiry into Offshore Processing and Resettlement Arrangements was holding public hearings.

Standing in the mild autumn sunshine in front of Scots Church on Friday, with passersby talking and laughing as they headed into town after work, it was hard for me to believe that the abuse of asylum seekers that I had been reading about was real. For 13 years, violence, hunger and fear have characterized the experiences of the those who have suffered through Australia’s offshore detention process in Nauru and PNG. There are currently around 100 asylum seekers on Nauru and near 30 on PNG where a humanitarian crisis has been unfolding.

The testimonies are painful to read and listen to. Yet the unspeakable violations and neglect that our country has imposed on these people, who came here seeking refuge, must be spoken about. People detained on Nauru, currently and previously,describe trauma and threats to their basic physical and emotional safety. The horror continues with those currently detained unable to afford to feed themselves adequately or engage in daily life without real fear of violent attack.

The government has allocated $581 million in this year’s budget to maintain this flawed and cruel offshore system. This is over ten times more expensive than onshore community detention or bridging visas. If we were to comply with Human Rights law, the funding would be redirected to more humane community-based alternatives to detention. Instead, it is an enormous commitment of taxpayers’ money to perpetuate a system that violates our obligations under international law.

You could be forgiven for wondering what on earth the eclectic group of seniors, huddled together in Freo against the evening chill, gripping their placards, are hoping to achieve. We are a collective of human rights groups and concerned individuals who feel that the shame of offshore processing continues only because most Australians are unaware of the depth of human suffering it causes to vulnerable people; people who came seeking Australia’s help. After almost six years of continuous Friday vigils, the group stands there, hoping that others will take a moment to consider, and to join us in calling for a kinder Australia.

*By Pauline Pannell of Grandmothers For Refugees and Friends Fremantle, grandmothersforrefugees.freo@gmail.com

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