AUSTRALIA MUST PLAY A LEAD ROLE IN RESPONDING TO REFUGEE CRISIS IN OUR REGION

The potential human tragedy unfolding in our region, with some 8000 refugees stranded on boats off the coasts of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, represents a much larger humanitarian crisis that the Australian Government cannot continue to ignore.

Many of the refugees are Rohingyas from Myanmar and Bangladesh, an ethnic group considered to be one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.

“Australia can’t afford to bury its head in the sand any longer on the refugee crisis facing our region – and in fact the world, with some 11 million refugees in search of somewhere safe to settle.

“This is a humanitarian crisis – people are fleeing war, persecution, abuse and hardship and often their only means of escape is to get on a boat,” ASRC CEO Kon Karapanagiotidis said today.

“The current situation in south east Asia is proof that Australia’s unilateral approach of deterrence and boat turn backs is a policy and moral failure.  Tony Abbott and his successive Immigration Ministers Morrison and Dutton hoped the Australian public wouldn’t notice just how flimsy their supposed policy success is.

“But it only took Indonesia and Malaysia a matter of days to realise that turning back boats doesn’t resolve anything. The reality is that if every country adopted Australia’s deterrence and ‘turn back’ approach, thousands of people would be left to starve to death or drown at sea.

“The Australian Government claims to care about lives lost at sea.  If this is true, they need to be part of developing a real response to the issue of refugees in our region.

“That means sitting down with our neighbours to develop a practical regional framework that supports and protects refugees.”

Ahead of the 29 May regional conference in Thailand in relation to this issue, the Australian Government must commit to:

• Reinstating Australia’s refugee intake back to 20,000 a year so we can offer more humanitarian visas to people in our region in need of protection, including Rohingyas escaping persecution from Myanmar
• Providing practical assistance to countries in our region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, including investing in safe, decent refugee camps in these countries and supporting refugee assessment so claims can be processed as efficiently as possible
• Working with countries in the region, using diplomacy to encourage the Government in Myanmar to treat Rohingyan people humanely and allow them to become citizens.

“At times of natural disaster, like the Nepal earthquake or the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, Australians are always ready to lend a hand to people in need.  In the same way, we can and should do more to resolve the refugee crisis in our region.”

Media contact: Mary Fall 0407 683 664