After an unprecedented 100 days of national protests led by refugees themselves, a historic open letter signed by 75 prominent organisations has urged the Albanese Government to provide a clear pathway to permanent visas for the approximately 8,400 people failed by the now-defunct Fast Track refugee assessment system.
The open letter, addressed to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, coincides with the 100-day mark of the refugee-led movement that has seen around-the-clock encampments spring up across major Australian cities. Despite facing racist and violent attacks, protest leaders remain resolute in their determination to continue until Labor allows these men, women, and children the chance to build their futures in Australia with safety and certainty.
Rathy Barthlote, an organiser of the Melbourne protests who fled Sri Lanka in 2013, emphasised the profound desperation driving their actions: “We started this 24/7 action because we feel desperate – we cannot live without certainty any longer. We have lost too many of our friends, family, and community. We feel their loss every day.”
The stories emerging from the nationwide encampments have shed light on the cruelty of living in limbo, constantly fearing being uprooted from families and returned to harm, often without access to essential services like Medicare, work, and study rights. Protesters have also spoken about the devastating impacts of being separated from family for over a decade and watching their children grow up in Australia without the same rights as their peers.
While the Australian Labor Party has acknowledged the flaws of the Fast Track process and abolished the system earlier this year, the open letter – signed by prominent groups like Amnesty International Australia, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Liberty Victoria, and the Human Rights Law Centre, demands that the government rectify the failures of the system by offering permanent visas to those it has failed.
Jana Favero, Deputy CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, underscored the urgency of this demand: “Over a decade ago, people arrived on our shores seeking asylum. Instead of offering safety, we subjected them to a flawed system that has failed people – causing uncertainty, limbo, harm and family separation. So fundamentally flawed was Fast Track that the Labor Party voted against it and have now scrapped it. The cruelty must end, and what’s needed urgently is for the failures of that system to be rectified by offering people permanent visas so they can finally rebuild their lives.”
Zaki Haidari, Refugee Rights Strategic Campaigner at Amnesty International Australia, echoed this sentiment, drawing from his own lived experience: “Now, it’s time for the Government to take the next step toward justice and fairness, ending the suffering and uncertainty faced by these asylum seekers. Not long ago, I was in their shoes. For over 10 years, I too, faced uncertainty about my future. Every day was a struggle. The Government must provide a pathway to permanency for asylum seekers and allow them to reunite with their families.”
As the protests enter their fourth month, the determination of the refugee community and their allies has gained the support of a diverse coalition of legal, human rights, and faith-based organisations.
As Rev. Sandy Boyce of the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce stated, “The Government has acknowledged the precarious position of refugees caught in limbo and uncertainty by the failed Fast Track process. Their plight has gone on far too long. The Government has the authority to do what is right and fair and create pathways for permanency. Now is the time to act.”
With the next federal election looming, the open letter urges the Albanese Government to “rise above the politics of fear and division” and provide a swift resolution for those who have endured over a decade of uncertainty and fear of deportation. For the refugee community and their supporters, this is not merely a matter of policy but a fight for basic human dignity and justice. It is a chance for them to finally rebuild their lives in the country they have long called home.
Article Source: Asylum Seeker Resource Centre Media Release 22 October 2024
Photo by Maria Teneva on Unsplash