Article by Kaye Lee
Excerpt from the article :
Reza Berati came to us seeking safe haven. He was murdered while
under our care. Scores of his fellow asylum seekers have been
grievously wounded, others have committed suicide, others are driven to
self-harm, all under our care.
We have been told we must stop the boats to save people’s lives. One
thousand deaths at sea is certainly a tragedy. The greater tragedy is
that we ignore this cry for help and punish the people who are desperate
enough to risk their lives seeking our protection.
I don’t presume to be the suppository of all wisdom but you have to
admit guys, what you are doing is not working. Stopping the boats and
locking people up does not help one single refugee but it costs us a
fortune, threatens our relationship with our neighbours, and draws
international condemnation.
When you remove hope you remove life so, in order to save the lives
of the over 30,000 asylum seekers who are currently under our
protection, I would like to offer the following observations and
suggestions.
Department of Immigration figures project that in the year ending 31
March 2014, 63,700 people arrived in Australia with working holiday
visas. A further 48,300 arrived on 457 visas. These are not citizens
of our country and do not aspire to be. They are here to earn a buck
and then go home.
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