An Indonesian police officer
guides a Rohingya refugee from Burma to shore after his boat was intercepted en
route to Australia (Reuters)
By Hanna Hindstrom
September 19, 2013
Australia is set to deport over 100 Rohingya asylum-seekers to
detention centres in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Nauru in the coming weeks, in
spite of accusations that the move would breach international human rights law.
It follows a decision by the former government in July to redirect
all asylum-seekers to its poorer Pacific neighbours in an effort to stem the
influx of boat people to Australia – which the newly elected Conservative prime
minister has vowed to uphold.
All new arrivals – of which 1,585 were recorded in August – will be
sent onwards to Nauru or Manus Island in PNG where they will be resettled if
successful, despite allegations of mistreatment and abuse at local detention
facilities.
According to a local campaign group, at least 100 Rohingyas fleeing
conflict and persecution in Burma’s western Arakan state are among those to
arrive in Australia since the government announced its new policy.
A spokesperson for the Department of Immigration confirmed to DVB
on Wednesday that 72 Burmese nationals and 284 stateless individuals – which is
likely to include some Rohingyas – were set for removal.
Although he would not lay out a concrete time frame, he said that
“regular transfers” of asylum seekers had taken place since July, with
exceptions only being made for those with urgent medical needs.
“Everyone who’s arrived
since 19 July is subject to transfer – initially to processing on Christmas
Island and then onwards to either PNG or Nauru,” said the spokesperson.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who was sworn into office on
Wednesday, has moved to implement an even more draconian immigration policy by
authorising the navy to intercept and physically drag boats back to their
country of origin, usually Indonesia.
“It’s so important that we send a message to the people-smugglers
that from today their business model is coming to an end,” Abbott said at his
inaugural ceremony.
Part of the AUS$440 million (US$397 million) scheme includes buying
old fishing boats from Indonesia in a bid to prevent traffickers from using
them, which activists say raises serious safety concerns for Rohingya refugees
fleeing Burma.
Chris Lewa from the campaign group, the Arakan Project, described
the plan as “totally ridiculous”, adding that it will only punish the victims
and not the traffickers.
“It’s definitely not going to stop [the boats] that’s for sure,”
Lewa told DVB on Thursday. “Here I’m asking [Rohingya] people in Malaysia if
they are still planning to go to Australia, and they say ‘yes’.”
More than 300 Burmese nationals have arrived in Australia this
year, along with nearly 2,000 stateless people – who are all counted as one
group but include Rohingyas, Kurds, Palestinians and others.
Earlier this week a group of Australian lawyers vowed to challenge
their government at the current UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva,
after criticising Abbott’s policy as tantamount to “cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment”.
It follows reports that G4S, the security firm responsible for
running the detention facility on Manus Island – under a scheme that will cost
Australian taxpayers up to AUS$1 billion (US$950 million) – has been implicated
in serious abuses against inmates, including rape and torture.
A recent investigation by The Guardian exposed “serious” gaps in
the government’s oversight mechanisms for the company’s management of the Manus
Island facility. But Australia has already laid out expansion plans for the
centre, including cramming 10,000 more tents onto the island.
The UN Refugee Agency has accused Australia of subjecting
asylum-seekers to “arbitrary detention that is inconsistent with international
human rights law” and identified “significant shortcomings” in PNG’s protection
mechanisms for processing refugees. Under the 1951 Refugee Convention,
Australia is obligated to assist victims of political oppression.
But a spokesperson for the Refugee Council of Australia (RCA) told
DVB that the government – from both sides of the political spectrum – has
actively “pursued policies to deflect responsibility for people seeking
protection from persecution” over the past year.
“This not only contravenes Australia’s international human rights
obligations, it undermines efforts to improve refugee protections in the
Asia-Pacific region,” said Andrew Williams, Communications Manager at RCA.
“The treatment of Rohingya, who are often treated as ‘illegal’ or
unwanted in their country of birth and in other places they seek asylum,
highlights the need for much better answers and greater sharing or
responsibility for refugee protection.”
It is unclear whether Rohingya refugees who are accepted in Nauru
will ever be able to obtain citizenship status, while the Christian-majority
PNG is considering adopting a bill that would prevent other religions from
being openly practiced.
Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims, who are denied citizenship
in Burma, have fled the country since two bouts of communal clashes with
Buddhists last year, which left nearly 140,000 displaced and 200 dead.
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