hello, would you be able to give me some context on the Manus island issue? I understand that they are being isolated and starved basically, but who are these men? Why are they there? I don't want to bother I'd just like to understand better... thanks!!!
So our government decided it wanted âstrong bordersâ which means turning boats carrying refugees back. (This is called ârefoulementâ by the way and is against international law but fuck it, the government just hates refugees that bad). Our policy is a hardline one: if you try to come here via boat then you will not be settled in Australia. This meant that when over 2000 refugees from Myanmar were stranded at sea in what the UN described as âfloating coffinsâ the then PM Tony Abbott adamantly refused to help. The government justifies this by referring to this as âillegal arrivals.â Note: it is not illegal for refugees to arrive by boat.
Those who donât get turned back (or remain from the Gillard era of arrivals) get put into detention centres in Manus and Nauru (which are situated in Papa New Guinea and Nauru but operated by the Australian government). These centres have been active for a while by the way (The two were originally opened under Howard in 2001, closed by Rudd, then reopened in 2012 by Gillard).
Conditions in these detention centres are horrible. Deliberately horrible. The UN has labelled it torture. The governmentâs reasoning? To discourage people smugglers. Make coming to Australia via boat so horrible an option that people fleeing war and persecution will think it a less reasonable option than staying home and potentially dying. Again: torture. There are hunger strikes, thereâs violence against the refugees, sexual assault, abuse of children, people have died, the psychological toll of indefinite detention has led to high rates of depression, attempted suicides, and self harm, and thereâs shockingly poor medical services. They could have just decided to not let refugees in and resettle them elsewhere and not torture them in the meantime but nope. The torture is PART of it. Just to be cruel.
And these people are innocent refugees. As Turnbull said to Trump - âThey have been under our supervision for over three years now and we know exactly everything about them.â The Government publicly has stats about how many claims have found to be genuine refugees. These people arenât a threat. They just want to flee persecution and we know this.
But policy is policy so⊠indefinite detention it is. And it is indefinite. Thereâs a US deal where some of them might be taken to be resettled in the US after theyâve been re-vetted. A deal made under the Obama administration is now under review by the Trump administration and Turnbull has told Trump he can take as little as 0 refugees if he likes - just review their cases. 0. Weâve turned down New Zealandâs offer to take some of our refugees because of the US deal - but as the US deal might lead to nothing itâs simply biding time, keeping people in limbo, for no reason other than to continue to maintain the disincentive of coming here by boat.
This is of course costly. It costs $400,000 per person to keep them offshore. Itâd cost the government half that to do it in Australia. Half that again in community detention. Why not then save money by doing it in Australia? Probably because then itâd be easier for people to investigate what horrible things go on in detention centres. The government tried to gag medical professionals and threaten them with up to 2 years jail time if they reported abuse on the islands (but backed down eventually).
The Papa New Guinea (PNG) government decided though that the Manus detention centre was unconstitutional and therefore illegal and demanded that the Australian government close Manus. They did so officially on 31st of October 2017, shutting off power and supplies to the compound.
Now 600 men are refusing to leave. They are scared that going to a different detention centre will simply be a continuation of the abuse and torture that will leave them in this perpetual limbo of being unsure where theyâll be resettled or when theyâll get there. Thereâs also the option of 3 sites for accommodation in the main town of Lorengau. The refugees say that the locals donât like them and that the police attack them. The detention centre recently was assaulted by gunfire so you can see why. Theyâve run out of food but local police are stopping locals/Australians from helping deliver food to the complex. They need medical supplies. Theyâre digging holes for water. Thereâs no electricity. This is a stand off. Our government wants them to just⊠moveâŠ
They donât feel any of their options are safe. And given our history of abusing them and then denying itâs happening I donât blame them.
This is the terror that our government inflicts on refugees. It inflicts this on other human beings. Itâs deliberately cruel, itâs deliberately inefficient and costly, and itâs a constant national shame that our government demands that human rights violations and abuse are the right thing to do.
Thereâs no excuse for this.
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