More misinformation Morrison, really?

The front page of today’s Age demonstrates aptly the problem with the politicization of the asylum seeker debate – in a vain attempt to leverage the issue for political gain, we see Scott Morrison deliberately capitalizing on an allegation against one member of the asylum seeker community, blanketly applying it to all asylum seekers, and blowing it out of proportion. We see Morrison calling for “a requirement to notify police in advance of the release of boat arrivals into community detention”, “a requirement for neighbouring residents to be alerted in advance of boat arrivals being located in their community”, and “the establishment of behaviour protocols for boat arrivals placed in community detention, with clear negative sanctions for breaches of such protocols”. Really Morrison?

As Barrister Greg Barns, spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance states, implying that there are large criminal elements among asylum seekers in Australia is untruthful and not the case. Even Liberal backbencher Russell Broadbent says that this kind of unsubstantiated denigration of asylum seekers is unacceptable. Already, asylum seekers undergo security assessment before being released from immigration detention, they are required to report regularly to the Immigration Department, to provide their address, and report any move. No evidence suggests that asylum seekers misbehave any more than any other member of society. They already have “behavior protocols” and “negative sanctions” as do every other member of the Australian community as enshrined in Australian law. By suggesting that asylum seekers need a new special category of law purely for a government defined social group, Morrison aptly demonstrates the dictionary definition of racial vilification.

Other interesting “facts” Scott Morrison has been bandying around this year:

• People who arrive by boat are economic migrants

In fact 90.8% of boat arrivals for 2011-2012 have been granted permanent protection visas. What this means is that the Australian Government has found that 90.8% of people arriving by boat during this time are genuine refugees under the United Nations Refugee Convention, and not economic migrants. As Paris Aristotle, one of the three experts who developed the Houston Report outlines, the way to establish whether asylum seekers are economic migrants is to “properly and quickly” start processing refugee applications. For people that arrived by boat after 13 August 2012, the Government has refused to process any applications, or indicate when this process will commence. The Government has also used voluntary returns of people arriving by boat as an indictment that they were not genuine refugees – a claim they cannot possibly make with any certainty without having heard people’s cases. What this demonstrates is that Government’s claims that there has been a surge in economic migrants and not refugees are baseless.

• Removing the right to work was a recommendation of the Houston Expert Panel

Nowhere in the Expert Panel’s report is removing the right to work mentioned. Paris Aristotle has said that the no work rights rules are inconsistent with the panel’s recommendations. He states the “measures are highly problematic because they are a punitive form of deterrence in response to a specific and new phenomenon in people smuggling,” as well as being in breach of Australia’s international treaty obligations.

• Asylum seekers are happy to live off welfare

As research demonstrates, asylum seekers in Australia do not want to live off welfare payments, they want to work so they are able to contribute to their families, their community, and themselves. Asylum seekers see fulfilling employment as giving a greater sense of belonging and meaning to their lives that will help them settle into the Australian community. Moreover, many asylum seekers are frustrated that their qualifications are not recognised in Australia and even more frustrated that due to their bridging visa status they are prohibited from undertaking any tertiary qualifications which will be recognised in Australia.

If you’re sick of misinformation from Morrison, then it’s time to do something about it! Without speaking up he will never know! Today ASRC launches the Right to Work Campaign!

• For more information visit http://righttowork.com.au and sign onto the united call statement!
• If calling is more your thing, give Prime Minister Gillard and Immigration Minister O’Connor a buzz to voice your concern, instructions on how to do so are here!
• Or you could send them a postcard expressing your concern by popping into ASRC or emailing educate@asrc.org.au to arrange hard copies of the postcards to be sent out to you
• You can follow @righttowork_oz on twitter to get the latest updates
• Or join our Facebook event

Get informed, involved, and make sure your voice is heard so we can let Ministers like Morrison know that we won’t support his racial vilification any longer!