As the Statement says, dignity of each person means that it is never right to use human ‘The beings as if they are things means to an end. Jesus’ attitude shows that. He would never – have accepted, for example, that it was right to punish one innocent child in order to make other children change their behaviour’. However, using human beings as a means to an end has driven the Australian at any ‘deter cost’ mantra of the boats’. We have all heard politicians say that the boats have ‘stopping been stopped. It is true they have been stopped in reaching Australia, but they have not been stopped. They have been deflected elsewhere. The facts make this clear. The UNHCR reports there are 3.8 million people who are refugees or in refugee-like situations in the Asia-Pacific region, and that in 2014 53,000 people embarked on dangerous sea journeys from the Bay of Bengal to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. They have not arrived here. They have however been at sea and moving, risking their lives, and in many cases drowning. Australians haven’t noticed. The secrecy in which the policy has been shrouded means Australians have been unable to notice. The current policy has been set up to stop people noticing, though there have been many special areas of concern that need to be noticed if we are to break free of the globalisation of indifference: These things need to be noticed: The extended detention of innocent people in on-shore and off-shore detention, including children Labelling people who have committed no and who are never ‘illegals’ charged with having broken any law, and yet are detained indefinitely even for years at a time; Labelling people jumpers’ when we know that only 1% of people seeking ‘queue asylum actually get re-settled through the UNHCR’s formal resettlement program. It’s more like a lottery ticket than a place in queue. The policy of boat tow-backs and turn-arounds in breach of Australia’s international obligations Inadequate processing through so-called screening’ resulting in ’enhanced refugees being sent back to sea to further risk The refoulement of genuine refugees back to Sri Lanka and Afghanistan The militarisation of what is a humanitarian issue requiring an appropriate humanitarian response The passing of legislation that aims to punish those who report sexual, physical and psychological abuse of detainees on Nauru and Manus
As the Statement says, ‘The dignity of each person means that it is never right to use human beings as if they are things – means to an end. Jesus’ attitude shows that. He would never have accepted, for example, that it was right to punish one innocent child in order to make other children change their behaviour’. However, using human beings as a means to an end has driven the Australian ‘deter at any cost’ mantra of ‘stopping the boats’. We have all heard politicians say that the boats have been stopped. It is true they have been stopped in reaching Australia, but they have not been stopped. They have been deflected elsewhere. The facts make this clear. The UNHCR reports there are 3.8 million people who are refugees or in refugee-like situations in the Asia-Pacific region, and that in 2014 53,000 people embarked on dangerous sea journeys from the Bay of Bengal to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. They have not arrived here. They have however been at sea and moving, risking their lives, and in many cases drowning. Australians haven’t noticed. The secrecy in which the policy has been shrouded means Australians have been unable to notice. The current policy has been set up to stop people noticing, though there have been many special areas of concern that need to be noticed if we are to break free of the globalisation of indifference: These things need to be noticed: The extended detention of innocent people in on-shore and off-shore detention, including children Labelling people ‘illegals’ who have committed no and who are never charged with having broken any law, and yet are detained indefinitely even for years at a time; Labelling people ‘queue jumpers’ when we know that only 1% of people seeking asylum actually get re-settled through the UNHCR’s formal resettlement program. It’s more like a lottery ticket than a place in queue. The policy of boat tow-backs and turn-arounds in breach of Australia’s international obligations Inadequate processing through so-called ’enhanced screening’ resulting in refugees being sent back to sea to further risk The refoulement of genuine refugees back to Sri Lanka and Afghanistan The militarisation of what is a humanitarian issue requiring an appropriate humanitarian response The passing of legislation that aims to punish those who report sexual, physical and psychological abuse of detainees on Nauru and Manus
2015-SJS-Launch-address-Phil-Glendenning.docx