Malaysia Refugee Solution Protest today

PROTEST – Malaysia refugee swap deal inhumane and must be stopped

Friday 29 July, 12.30-1.30pm

Outside Dept of Immigration, Casselden Place, cnr Lonsdale Street & Spring St, city

Inhumane Malaysia refugee deal needs to be stopped

Refugee supporters intend to protest against the Malaysia refugee swap deal outside the Immigration department offices on Friday 29 July, 12.30-1.30pm.

The Refugee Advocacy Network (RAN) condemns the inhumane refugee swap deal with Malaysia and calls on the government to abandon this agreement, said spokesperson Pamela Curr

We are hoping that legal action that is in place will prevent the government from sending refugees to Malaysia under this deal, she added.

Although the Australian government has painted a picture of the Malaysia refugee deal as a humanitarian outcome, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is not a party to the agreement.

If Malaysia genuinely intended to introduce human rights, it would sign on to the international conventions, but it hasnt, said Curr.

Despite the Australian governments promises, if asylum seekers are sent to Malaysia, they will disappear into a black hole with tens of thousands of other refugees where they will disappear from view.

We wont be able to find out if the government has kept its promises to this group of refugees, and that is what the government is hoping for.

The Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project, a Refugee Advocate Network member says The Malaysia Deal is wholly abhorrent. The idea of using people who are desperate to be a deterrent is inhuman and despicable. The Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project advocates stopping this obnoxious practice.

Another RAN member, Labor for Refugees said “The Party Platform is crystal clear. Applications for asylum made in Australia must be assessed in Australia by Australians. That Platform was what Labor stood for at the last election. The Malaysian Deal blatantly breaches these rules. Our rank and file members are outraged by this cynical breach of faith by the Government.

“No amount of money paid to UNHCR will change the fact that this deal turns people away from Australian shores without even listening to their pleas for help – some of whom will most certainly be genuine refugees. This Deal will send genuine refugees to a country which is not even a signatory to the Refugee Convention.”

The Australian government is spending an enormous amount of money to stop asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat. This is causing devastation for asylum seekers, said Curr.

It is funding the Sri Lankan navy to block Tamil refugees from leaving Sri Lanka, forcing Tamils to stay in a country where their human rights are not protected, said Curr.

It is funding the Indonesian government to lock up refugees in tiny and overcrowded cells, 24-hours a day, without any natural sunlight and without any exercise for 7-8 months waiting for a UNHCR interview for their refugee determination.

And now the government intends to send asylum seekers to Malaysia, a country where their rights wont be protected. This wont stop boats.

We call on the government to process all asylum claims in Australia. The Malaysia deal wont stop people coming here by boat. It isnt illegal to seek asylum, regardless of the means by which you arrive, said Curr.

PROTEST – Malaysia refugee swap deal inhumane and must be stopped

Friday 29 July, 12.30-1.30pm

Outside Dept of Immigration, Casselden Place, cnr Lonsdale Street & Spring St, city

For media inquiries: Pamela Curr 0417 517 075