barryqwalsh
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- Sep 30, 2014
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Manus closure must not weaken border protection
The Turnbull government’s decision, after talks with Papua New Guinea, to close the Manus Island immigration detention centre is a sign Australia’s tough border protection regime, including offshore processing, has worked. The move was anticipated following a PNG Supreme Court ruling in April that the centre was illegal. As Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said last week, one of the benefits of stopping the boats is that Australia now can do without the capacity it provided. As a result of the pending closure, and the leaking of thousands of files alleging serious abuse and self-harm among asylum-seekers on Nauru, the Greens and refugee activists claim offshore processing has had its day.
Abandoning the option, however, would risk a return to the failures of the Rudd-Gillard era in which 50,000 asylum-seekers arrived by boat and 1200 drowned after Labor scrapped the Howard government’s Pacific Solution. Violence and disruption since German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the doors to one million refugees last year underline the risks of weakening border protection in the current international environment. Australia — and thousands of the world’s neediest refugees — are far better off if our government sticks to a generous, orderly refugee processing system through official channels.
Refugee advocates want detainees in offshore centres resettled in Australia and West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says his state would accept some. However well-intentioned, such an outcome would be a virtual green light to people-smugglers to resume their deadly trade. A decision to allow current detainees into Australia would be used by people-smugglers to convince potential passengers they would reach Australia sooner or later. For the same reason, settling refugees in New Zealand would also be a mistake because of the free movement of citizens allowed informally under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement.
Under the agreement between Labor and PNG, asylum-seekers processed on Manus Island and found to be refugees are free to settle in PNG. They can be resettled in a third country, but not Australia. Until the Turnbull government reaches an agreement with a suitable third country, the refugees’ choice between PNG or going home must remain in place. The government could also consider consolidating offshore processing by looking at transferring detainees to Nauru.
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- The Australian
- 12:00AM August 22, 2016
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The Turnbull government’s decision, after talks with Papua New Guinea, to close the Manus Island immigration detention centre is a sign Australia’s tough border protection regime, including offshore processing, has worked. The move was anticipated following a PNG Supreme Court ruling in April that the centre was illegal. As Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said last week, one of the benefits of stopping the boats is that Australia now can do without the capacity it provided. As a result of the pending closure, and the leaking of thousands of files alleging serious abuse and self-harm among asylum-seekers on Nauru, the Greens and refugee activists claim offshore processing has had its day.
Abandoning the option, however, would risk a return to the failures of the Rudd-Gillard era in which 50,000 asylum-seekers arrived by boat and 1200 drowned after Labor scrapped the Howard government’s Pacific Solution. Violence and disruption since German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the doors to one million refugees last year underline the risks of weakening border protection in the current international environment. Australia — and thousands of the world’s neediest refugees — are far better off if our government sticks to a generous, orderly refugee processing system through official channels.
Refugee advocates want detainees in offshore centres resettled in Australia and West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says his state would accept some. However well-intentioned, such an outcome would be a virtual green light to people-smugglers to resume their deadly trade. A decision to allow current detainees into Australia would be used by people-smugglers to convince potential passengers they would reach Australia sooner or later. For the same reason, settling refugees in New Zealand would also be a mistake because of the free movement of citizens allowed informally under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement.
Under the agreement between Labor and PNG, asylum-seekers processed on Manus Island and found to be refugees are free to settle in PNG. They can be resettled in a third country, but not Australia. Until the Turnbull government reaches an agreement with a suitable third country, the refugees’ choice between PNG or going home must remain in place. The government could also consider consolidating offshore processing by looking at transferring detainees to Nauru.
READ MORE
Quiz time
JAMES MORROW
Central bankers rethink inflation
DAVID UREN
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- Share on email
- Share more...
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