UN criticizes Australia's policies on indigenous peoples and refugees

[News_Editor]

UN criticizes Australia's policies on indigenous peoples and refugees

2011-05-26 02:33:40 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- A top United Nations official on Wednesday urged Australia to rethink its policies towards indigenous peoples and asylum-seekers.

"The issues of indigenous disadvantage and the treatment of asylum-seekers need to be tackled through a human rights-based approach, not driven by short-term electoral advantage and political goals," High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told a press conference in Canberra at the end of her six-day visit.

Ms. Pillay welcomed the advances the Government has made in addressing some of the disadvantages faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but said policies still fail to recognize the right to self-determination included in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Australia, along with Canada, New Zealand and the United States, originally voted against the declaration when it was adopted in September 2007 after more than two decades of debate. All four countries have subsequently endorsed the text, which sets out the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples.

She also expressed concern about Australia's mandatory immigration detention regime, by which thousands of men, women and children are held for prolonged periods of time, and which has for many years "cast a shadow" over the country's human rights record.

"During my visit to immigration detention centres in Darwin, I saw the grim despondency of asylum seekers, waiting for months, or in some cases well over a year, to be released," she stated. "These people, who arrive with such relief and hope after experiencing trauma in their home countries, should not be treated in this way."

Australia's detention centers have recently been plagued by violent riots, suicides and self-harm attempts. Late last month, dozens of asylum-seekers pelted firefighters with roof tiles and other debris as they tried to battle blazes at a detention center in Sydney, which houses around 400 detainees.

Australian and Papua New Guinean officials announced earlier this month that the Manus Island detention center may be reopened as the Australian government is desperate to stop the unending flow of boats.

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