Labor for Refugees demands …. CLOSE MANUS ISLAND NOW!
Labor for Refugees calls on the Leadership of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party to support the immediate closure of Manus Island. Labor must support the transfer of all asylum seekers in the camp and who have been sent out into the PNG community, to Australia for fair processing under Australian and international laws and conventions.
Labor for Refugees reminds the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party of the following policies set out in the ALP National Platform:
Chapter 9
157 Labor recognizes that under the Refugee Convention asylum seekers have the right to seek protection and asylum
160 Protection visas applications made in Australia will be assessed by Australians on Australian territory.
The offshore detention centres do not deter asylum seekers from seeking refuge in Australia. They just make life hell for them when they are exercising their legal right to seek asylum.
The Federal Parliamentary Party must reverse its commitment to retaining these centres. They are factories of misery that a future Labor government cannot make more humane. If Labor is returned to government at the next election the current policy of the Federal Labor Caucus is to retain these offshore centres and run them more humanely. We believe this cannot be achieved while they are run by the same contractors, in the same locations where asylum seekers are not welcome. Close offshore detention centres now and process asylum seekers fairly onshore.
Robin Rothfield,
National Co-convenor,
Labor for Refugees
Tel 03 9486 5973
0418 338 665
