Bishop Greg O'Kelly of Port Pirie has invited his people to reflect on our approach to asylum-seekers in light of the Gospel. Click here. (Thanks to CathNews)

Tags: justice, refugees

Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott have sought to make political capital on the misfortunes of others; they point to the 'success' of the previous government in reducing the number of boat-people. The Howard government's treatment of asylum-seekers was disgraceful; it was dehumanising and shamed us all. Petro Georgiu and Judi Moylan helped bring about change in government policy. A process which continued with the Rudd government. Now the Opposition seems to want to turn back the clock. They should hang their heads in shame. Are they so desperate for electoral success that they would play on people's prejudices and fears?
I heard the Prime Minister on the ABC this morning. It was good to hear him emphasise the humane treatment of asylum-seekers. He also pointed to the many international factors driving the increase in asylum applications, most notably the situation in Sri Lanka.

Addendum: Sharman Stone was fear-mongering on television again. She disgraces her office.

Tags: justice, refugees

Demonising all people involved in bringing asylum-seekers over here as 'evil people-smugglers' is not helpful. Mandatory sentencing laws can lead to unjust outcomes. This is illustrated in this article.

Tags: justice, refugees

Bishop Pat Power, the Auxiliary Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn, has expressed his disappointment with the government on asylum-seekers. Click here. I hope his is not a lone voice in the wilderness.

Tags: justice, refugees

You may have seen some figures thrown around on the cost of refugees to the Australian taxpayer. The latest episode of Mediawatch is revealing.

Tags: justice, refugees

There seem to be certain misapprehensions which have achieved the status of commonplace.

1. Asylum-seekers who arrive by boat are not entering the country illegally or 'queue-jumping'.
International law on refugees does not distinguish between those who arrive by sea or air. Indeed if they come by sea they are not arriving illegally since they have the right to seek asylum. Those who arrive by air and who then seek refugee status are here on some visa which does not entitlte them to refugee status; their claim for asylum has to assessed by the refugee tribunal.

2. I fail to see the reason for fear. Living in Italy I witnessed the plight of many people without papers (sans papier) who eke out a living on the streets. We do not have this problem here. Those who seek refugee status have their claims assessed. Indeed the evidence is that those who arrive by boat are inevitably intercepted off-shore and their claims then processed. We are not being flooded by boat-people who arrive on our shores and in some cladestine fashion slide into our communities without being processed. If one wanted to enter the country stay in the country illegally, one would do better to enter the country on a valid visa and overstay.

3. When we talk about refugees, we are not considering those who leave their country for economic reasons. That is another and valid question. We are considering those who fit within the definitions of international conventions as expressed in commonwealth laws.

4. A misapprehension about Christian discipleship. How can someone from a wealthy country face the Lord and say 'it was too difficult/awkward to help you in the littlest of my brothers and sisters'? How can a Christian disciple from a wealthy country like Australia say this when people from poor countries face greater challenges with regard to asylum-seekers every day? For shame!

A final word from Dietrich Bonhöffer - a hero of the Prime Minister:
'If the world despises one of the brethren, the Christian will love and serve him. If the world does him violence, the Christian will succour and comfort him. If the world dishonours and insults him, the Christian will sacrifice his honour to cover his brother's shame.... And where the world oppresses, he will stoop down and raise up the oppressed. If the world refuses justice, the Christian will pursue mercy.'

Tags: justice, refugees

It was disappointing to see the Opposition raise the spectre of asylum-seekers flooding our shores; one had hoped that we would have left such fear-mongering behind us. It was even more disappointing to witness the Government's rush to enter the fray not with clear facts, but with shrill rhetoric of its own. There have been improvements made to refugee policy; let us hope that we do not go backwards.

These web sites have useful information:
UNHCR Australia
Refugee Council of Australia facts

And there is a good article in Crikey

Tags: justice, refugees