Dear Mr. Morrison,
I hope that you are having a good day.
I'm writing to express my grief at the policy of offshore processing of asylum seekers in detention. I’m writing to request that the Government change its policy platform.
I understand the rationale; I'm just deeply troubled by it. I do not believe that the brutality - psychological and physical - that these people are facing is made acceptable by the outcome of 'stopped boats'. I do not believe that, in a world facing the dynamics of dramatically increased asylum flows, that ‘stopped boats’ can be a moral trump card. Especially not when the means through which this is supposedly achieved (and the research internationally puts a question mark over the efficacy of domestic policy as deterrents that affect asylum flows in discernibly causal ways) is so morally bankrupt. How on earth have we come to the point of bipartisan consensus that it is OK to destroy the souls of those who have exercised their right to seek refuge, in order to deter others who have not yet come? Surely it is morally dubious to harm some in order to deter others. We are punishing real people, who have committed no crime! It is abhorrent! I do not believe it is possible to construe what is happening on offshore processing centres as anything other than punishment, as what is in effect indefinite detention, even though we might mince our words and label it as ‘processing’. It is punishment, it is detention, it is (in effect, for those with adverse ASIO assessments) indefinite – and that is illegal.
I know that you are a man who is capable of compassion. I cannot believe that you enjoy hearing of the kind of hopelessness that these detention centres are embedding into the minds of already desperate people.
So, if you will not heed the UN's finding over 150 human rights abuses that are taking place in these detention centres, then please heed the voice of the electorate whom you purport to represent as a Minister of Parliament.
We are appalled, outraged, and we deeply desire better, stronger leadership from our Parliament. We want to see more creative ways of handling the complexities that surround this issue, and we want policies that are not immoral. Is that too much to ask? I've studied this from both a legal and government background; I understand the deterrence argument - I just think that if it becomes the rationale for immorality in our policy platform, then that will inevitably have a corrosive effect on our national conscience. As it should.
Given the surge in asylum flows globally, surely it is not too much for Australia to step up and put our shoulder to the wheel, by welcoming broken people in, assessing their refugee status here, where the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) process can be executed much more quickly than in the under-staffed and under-resourced UNHCR camps in transit countries, and then settling those whose claims meet the (very high) threshold of 'refugee', and sending back those whose claim doesn't meet that standard, for whatever reason.
I really do not see that processing in the community is so politically unpalatable. I have issues with the current approach to community detention, as someone who has spent time with those living in community detention, but that is mostly due to the period of time it takes to process claims, and the corresponding length of time that means adult asylum seekers are idling away, without work, and nothing but their own thoughts and trauma to preoccupy themselves with. I believe that you underestimate the capacity of Australians to show generosity and compassion as they welcome in the broken – and as we benefit from all they have to offer Australian society.
As Noam Chomsky has said:
‘The true measure of the moral level of a society is how it treats the most vulnerable people. Few are as vulnerable as those who have fled to Australia in terror and are locked away without charge, their terrible fate veiled in secrecy. We may not be able to do much, beyond lamenting, about North Korean prisons. But we can do a great deal about severe human rights violations right within reach.’
And as one of my international law professors, Ben Saul, said recently:
‘Freedom from arbitrary detention by the state is fundamental to all other rights, democracy and the rule of law. Liberty has been part of our culture since the Magna Carta 800 years ago. It is a precious value shared by all conservatives and progressives who care to control state power. Without it, the state can lock you up forever without reasons or protection by the courts. The courts become a hollow shell, powerless to control bureaucrats and politicians, or hold the state to account. The executive becomes omnipotent and above the law. ASIO becomes judge, jury and executioner. Bad decisions become untouchable. The rule of law vanishes.
Arbitrary, illegal detention is also unnecessary to make us safe. We know this because we do not indefinitely detain Australians who are suspected of being dangerous. Instead we prosecute them in a fair trial before an independent court. Or we put them under surveillance, or impose an anti-terrorism control order. There is no reason to treat refugees differently. Only Australia, and America at Guantanamo Bay, maintain indefinite detention without charge. Other democracies also do not deny a fair hearing. Instead, they balance security concerns against basic fairness. State secrets are still protected, but a person is never left wondering what they might have done to deserve losing their freedom.
Our paranoid, security extremism is un-Australian. It is un-Australian to forever disappear fellow human beings into immigration gulags, hopeless places which destroy people's minds. It is un-Australian to damage refugee children and families and to treat the freedom of others as nothing.
Indefinite detention is the convenient solution of timid parliaments and governments too easily spooked by the ghost of national security, too spineless to stand for liberty and fairness, and too fearful to do what is right.’
Please leverage your intellect and creativity to come up with a policy alternative that is not immoral. I pray for you and your colleagues as you try to do your jobs with integrity.
Grace and peace,
Stephanie Judd
