Resilence for some but not for all: Labor and Australian refugee policy

Resilience for some but not for all: Labor and Australian refugee policy

Article by Ruby Ritchie

The welcoming home of the Nadesalingam family back to Biloela made headlines across Australia. Recently, the MP (Member of Parliament) for Reid Sally Sitou was sworn into Parliament, a child of parents who fled the Vietnam war.

Australia has a long and controversial history with refugee policy criticised by the United Nations, international peace and human rights organisations and governments across the globe.

Will the new government bring new policy? Or will it stay stagnant?

What is Australia’s refugee policy?

In Australia, refugees arriving with valid visas are given opportunities for permanent residency and are considered legal arrivals. However, those considered as “unlawful arrivals” are subject to living on temporary protection visas, or in the worst cases, detention either in Australia or offshore.

Yet the worst-case scenarios are often far too prolific; the Nadesalingam family knows this scenario better than most after fighting for four years in detention, despite their two young children being born in Australia.

The Nadesalingam family are Eelam Tamils, originally from Sri Lanka. Many Eelam Tamils have suffered from immense hardship under the Sinhalese government, seeking asylum since the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983-2009).

Recently, dozens of Sri Lankans were turned away from Australian borders. The UN declared Sri Lanka to be in a humanitarian crisis, after experiencing economic catastrophe. The Sri Lankan government has allegedly committed physical and sexual violence, widespread segregation and genocidal war crimes against Eelam Tamils. The current Labor Government granted the family visas in July, and they are back in their hometown of Biloela. Yet there are many families still in detention, and a greater population of refugees living on temporary protection visas.

Labor was met with controversy in 2012 after reintroducing offshore processing in a bid to circumvent the High Court’s ruling on the Malaysia Solution, opening refugees to the indefinite detention we see today.

In their election campaign the party promised to abolish temporary visas altogether, yet still supported offshore processing.

Legacy of Labor and Liberal governments on detention

Although the Labor party opened the door back up to offshore processing, successive Liberal governments ripped the metaphorical door from its hinges through Operation Sovereign Borders. Labor continues to support OSB, with Richard Marles, the deputy Labor leader, saying: “Let’s be really clear; there is no difference between Labor and the government when it comes to border protection policy...Labor supports Operation Sovereign Borders and every aspect of it.”

The motive behind their support of OSB is to reduce the incidence of people smuggling. Although concerns about people smuggling may be legitimate and well-founded, offshore detentions are, to human right organisations and refugee councils, not a sensible solution in reducing its prevalence.

Eelam Tamil struggle and Australian refugee policy: Genuine promises or tokenism?

Renuga Inpakumar, co-chair of the Tamil Refugee Council, discussed the issues Tamil communities face under Australian refugee policies, and her perspective on whether Labor will make changes.

“My community has been greatly affected by the refugee policies implemented in Australia. The Eelam Tamils have been fleeing Sri Lanka since the beginning of Sri Lankan independence. It was in 2009 when the Australian government implemented harsh refugee laws in which many Eelam Tamils were placed in the indefinite detention,” she said.

Renuga continued, “being a Tamil Eelam person myself and witnessing Australia’s policies discriminate against our community caused intergenerational trauma. The policies have become another aspect of why the Tamil youth suffer every day, witnessing individuals either die, be deported, or have severe mental health issues because of Australia’s refugee policies.” When asked about whether Labor’s promise to give the Nadesalingam family permanent protection was pure tokenism, Renuga replied in the affirmative.

“Refugees have constantly been used as political pawns for getting votes, whether that be in the Liberal party or the Labor Party,” she said.

The bottom line

Labor has only so far met one of their promises surrounding Australian refugee policy, granting the Nadesalingam family permanent visas. However, thousands of other refugees in Australia continue live their life in limbo.

The abolition of temporary protection visas is yet to be enacted and offshore detention is still actively being supported by the new federal government.

The Nadesalingam family may have been given protection, however, the future for asylum seekers remains uncertain.