Amnesty Probe Finds Australia Breaches Asylum Laws

[News_Editor]

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, pictured during his election campaign, won power in September partly on the back of a tough stance on asylum seekers. (Photo: Reuters)

SYDNEY: Rights group Amnesty International has urged Australia to review its asylum seeker policies and end offshore detention after finding "debilitating and humiliating conditions" at processing centers that breach obligations under international law.

A steady flow of refugee boats is a hot political issue in Australia, polarizing voters. Prime Minister Tony Abbott's conservative Liberal-led coalition won power in September partly on the back of a tough campaign against asylum seekers.

In its report, Amnesty said 1,100 male asylum seekers now detained on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea were living in squalid "prison-like" conditions, where one compound was reported to violate the UN Convention Against Torture.

Compounds on the island are known to be overcrowded with small fans shared among more than 100 men in an environment of stifling heat and overwhelming stench, Amnesty said.

"This system of harsh conditions and humiliating treatment is a deliberate effort to pressure people to return to the desperate situations they have fled from," Claire Mallinson, director of Amnesty in Australia, said in a statement.

"The policy of offshore processing is here to stay," Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, who heads the combined asylum seeker task force known as Operation Sovereign Borders, told Reuters in an email response on Wednesday.

"To walk away from offshore processing would be reckless and irresponsible."

He added, "Where practical, suggestions raised to improve the operations of our offshore processing centers will be given proper consideration."

The UN refugee agency, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, last year identified a global total of 10.5 million refugees, compared to just over 30,000 settled in Australia, putting the country's share at 0.29 percent, and ranking it at 49 among the countries that host refugees.

Pakistan hosted the largest number, with 1.6 million, and Iran, with 868,000 people.

Amnesty said asylum seekers at Manus were forced to line up for several hours a day for meals and had no access to adequate medical facilities for mental illness and health conditions.

The majority of those held on Manus have fled from war-torn areas, including Afghanistan, Darfur, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, as well as Rohingyas from Burma and Bidun from the Gulf region, who have fled from ethnic persecution.

The report follows an inspection by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees that found conditions on Manus and at another centre on the Republic of Nauru in the South Pacific fell short of international standards.

They "do not provide a fair and efficient system for assessing refugee claims provide safe and humane conditions of treatment in detention," that report concluded.

The post Amnesty Probe Finds Australia Breaches Asylum Laws appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Source: Irrawaddy.org

[Jay Sata]

Speaking as an ex Aussie resident I'd say he pretty much reflects the general thinking. You have to understand Australians are well balanced people with a chip on both shoulders.

Bonzer mate!

[Credo]

The Australian gov't is spending a lot of money to have these people treated poorly. Is that on purpose?

[Ulysses G.]

Australia is very nice country. I can't really blame them for trying to prevent having it ruined by illegal immigration.

[NeverSure]

Every country is sovereign and should stand up and make its own rules. The whole idea of some outside entity be it the private group AI, or the UN, or whoever thinking it should tell another country what to do is ludicrous. They should be told to kiss off.

[Credo]

They may be sovereign, but they are a signatory to the UN Conventions. If they wish to cancel them, then do so. They can join the ranks of the countries where these people come from.

Human rights are human rights. If you don't want them, then don't take them, but don't mistreat them or partake in their mistreatment.

[NeverSure]

They may be sovereign, but they are a signatory to the UN Conventions. If they wish to cancel them, then do so. They can join the ranks of the countries where these people come from.

Human rights are human rights. If you don't want them, then don't take them, but don't mistreat them or partake in their mistreatment.

Australia is a civilized, humanitarian country which has done much for human rights in this regard. But for some <deleted> organization like AI to presume to tell them what to do is ludicrous.

As for the UN, every civilized country should tell them to kiss ass. Doing so would not cause Australia to "join the ranks of the countries where these people came from." It would simply allow Australia to be sovereign.

[Credo]

So your beef is with the source of the information? Or is it ok to mistreat asylum seekers?

[Will27]

Who said they were being mistreated?

Oh that's right AI.

You're having a laugh aren't you?

They're being so badly mistreated yet they still keep coming.

Go figure.

Edited December 14, 2013 by Will27