WHO ARE THEY?

‘Everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries, asylum from persecution.’

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) Article 14

‘Refugee’: a person with a “well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion...”

Convention, article 1a (2)

IN WAVES:

1976 –1982: ~2000 Vietnamese ‘boat people’ + 15,000 Vietnamese refugees settled directly from refugee camps 1989 –1993: ~3,000 asylum seekers, mostly from China, Vietnam and Cambodia 1999 –2001: ~12,000 from Afghanistan and Iraq (Tampa August 2001 then Sept 11 …) 2008 –present: 18,000 + from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka

ALLOCATION OF PLACES:

WHO ARE WE?

Recent study (585 responses to survey of 3,000; skewed toward older adults, av. 58 yo; 72% born in Australia: Attitudes on how asylum seekers should be treated on arrival: 1) With caution, but respect (n = 207); 2) With humanitarian values (n = 161); or 3) That they should be ‘sent back’ (n = 158). … e.g. of 3): ‘Turn the boat around and tell them to go back to where they come from—should they fail to respond—fire shots across the bow—should they fail to respond fire shoot at the ship.’

‘LEFT’ ‘Let them come’ human rights compassion ‘asylum seekers’ ‘refugees’ Greens Fairfax/ABC VS.

‘RIGHT’: ‘Turn them back’ border protection security ‘illegal immigrants,’ ‘queue jumpers’

Act: ‘unauthorized maritime arrivals’

Liberal/NP NewsCorp

http://expertpanelonasylumseekers.dpmc.gov.au

Angus Houston Paris Aristotle Michael L’Estrange

EXPERT PANEL: IMAs irregular maritime arrivals ‘The common and principal focus of activity … must be to shift the balance of risk, predictability and incentive in favour of the use of regular pathways of international protection and migration, and against the need to resort to irregular and dangerous boat voyages to Australia for those purposes.’ (3.1 p. 37)

Address root causes Help countries of first asylum Regional cooperation and capacity building Quicker RSD, but using regional processing Disrupt smugglers Removals and returns Excise mainland & Raise to 20,000 Allow some skilled IMAs: no SHP families Distribute resettlement More research

CHRISTIAN RESPONSE (PART 1): 1. Conflict of goods → peacemaking 2. Truth telling admits complexity 3. Truth telling acknowledges falleness 4. Christian alert for government failure: ‘an avenger .. on the wrongdoer’ (Rom. 13:4) … can’t also be the wrongdoer.

‘punish those who do evil’ (1 Pet. 2:14) .. can’t also do evil.

… ‘best friends’ of government 5. Truth telling acknowledges government expertise

UNHCR JAKARTA • • • • 4000+ people Australia 50/yr Expert Panel: ‘substantial increase in additional places from Indonesia’ $$$$

EXCISION AND REGIONAL PROCESSING

NAURU

NAURU: PANEL EXPECTS/REQUIRES - human rights standards (including no arbitrary detention); appropriate accommodation; appropriate physical and mental health services; access to educational and vocational training programs; application assistance during asylum claims; an appeal mechanism monitoring of care and protection arrangements

NAURU: MINISTER BOWEN REPORTS - 2. freedom of movement : ‘anticipated, but not legally required, that they will ordinarily return to their accommodation by sunset’.

8. more permanent accommodation within 6 months 4. education of children 15. training courses 18. church participation 19. minibuses around country.

TOWARD A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE (PART 2): God’s Character  ‘The people of the land … oppress the  denying them justice. ... So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger …’ [Ezek. 22:29,31].

God’s Character Creation  Peter: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.’ (Act 10:34–35)

God’s Character Creation John: ‘After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb …’ (Rev. 7:9) New future

God’s Character Creation Community ‘in Christ’  New future  Jew vs. Gentile: ‘he is our peace… [he] has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us .’ (Eph. 2:14)

God’s Character Creation Fall / ‘Flesh’ : disordered desires false belonging Community ‘in Christ’  Commands Israel: ‘when an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of Love him as New future your native-born. yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt” (Leviticus 19:33-34).

 ‘Xenophilia is commanded of us: the neighbour whom we are to whom we en God’s Character love is the foreigner counter on the road.’ [Oliver O’Donovan] Creation Fall / ‘Flesh’ : disordered desires false belonging Community ‘in Christ’  Christ’s Spirit: reordered desires, true inclusion (‘love’) Commands New future

A CONSERVATIVE RESPONSE FOR CHRISTIANS Ask the government to do what it says - regional money - good conditions on Nauru - increased places - faster RSD - more places from Indonesia - good SAR … etc Requires more openness to press Letters to MP www.sie.org.au

A MORE RADICAL RESPONSE Question ‘deterrence’: unlikely that it works, and a bit wrong.

Train yourself in love: smile at ‘foreigners’ Question your neighbour’s fears about scarcity Push for generosity … e.g.: Ask for 3000+ places p.a. direct from Indonesia, separate from other humanitarian Ask for increase in foreign aid (to 0.7 % GDP) to be spent on DIPLOMACY then REGIONAL TEAMWORK then MORE UNHCR ‘Community sponsorship’: consider it & stay tuned …