The Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce is urging the newly elected Federal Government and Prime Minister Scott Morrison to resolve the plight of the 1000+ refugees in Manus and Nauru, some of whom are now in Australia.
In a letter signed by numerous religious leaders across Australia, they write: “Let them settle here.”
The 42nd Annual Synod of the Uniting Church Western Australia, held over the weekend, committed to taking the next step in advocacy for people seeking asylum, calling on Australia’s leaders to restore dignity to people seeking humanitarian protection.
The Synod agreed to write to the Federal Government expressing concerns at the restriction of access to the Status Resolution Support Service (SRSS). Removing the service leaves families at risk of destitution and homelessness, and the church is calling for full access to be reinstated.
While our Federal Government still takes a hard line approach to refugees and asylum seekers, many Australians want to do more to help those coming to Australia for safety. There are a number of practical ways members of the Australian community can help.
The Uniting Church WA has been a long-time supporter of the Coalition for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees (CARAD), who provide support to refugees and asylum seekers in Perth. Recent cuts to the Status Resolution Support Service mean that up to 500 people in Perth may lose access to this program, leaving them without any form of income. Individuals and groups, such as Uniting Church WA congregations, can help by donating items to CARAD’s Food Bank or organising a fundraiser to donate cash.
Rev Steve Francis, Moderator of the Uniting Church Western Australia, today called for the Australian Government not to remove support for people seeking asylum in our local community.
Echoing the calls made by refugee advocates across Australia, Western Australian churches are disappointed and concerned to see the Government progressing with plans to remove fundamental support for vulnerable families in the local community.
Former Premier of Western Australia, Dr Carmen Lawrence, and now Professor in the School of Psychological Science at the University of Western Australia, addressed a record crowd of close to 1 500 people outside St George’s Cathedral at the Perth Palm Sunday Walk for Justice for Refugees, held on 25 March.
Dr Lawrence drew attention to the cruelty of Australia’s refugee policies, saying, “We know that the current policies are costly, costly in human terms and financial terms, and cruel, unutterably cruel, defying the refugee convention to which we’re signatory.”
Newly installed Anglican Archbishop of Perth, Kay Goldsworthy AO, Australia’s first female Archbishop, in one of her first major public appearances as Archbishop added her voice to the call for a humane response to people seeking safety saying, “Australians are a compassionate people. Instead of limbo and uncertainty, we can offer safety, freedom and a future.”
So much has been going on in Australian politics in the lead-up to printing this edition of Revive. In a landslide victory, Australia has voted yes in the marriage equality postal survey, and crazy things are happening around our Federal MPs concerning dual citizenship.
But a horror situation is also unfolding on Manus Island.
I’ve struggled to keep up with news on this situation, I think because I feel utterly helpless. But as Revive goes to print, around 600 men have been abandoned by the Australian Government at the Manus Island Detention Centre. They fear for their safety if they leave. Their food, power and water has been cut and I can’t even imagine the mental anguish they must be going through.
President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Stuart McMillan, has called on the Federal Government to take moral leadership and resolve the status of refugees on Manus Island in mainland Australia.
Hundreds of men who remained in the offshore detention centre after its closure on 31 October have been transported to new facilities by Papua New Guinean authorities. Their removal follows a tense stand-off in which the men initially refused to leave.
“Haven’t these people suffered enough? After all this time, is it still impossible for the Federal Government to show some compassion and bring them here?” said Stuart.
The National Council of Churches in Australia, Act for Peace and the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce stand together to bear witness to the suffering that Australia’s bipartisan refugee policy in regard to offshore processing, has caused.
They mourn the loss of justice for those refugees in Papua New Guinea (PNG) who are willing to put their own bodies in danger as the last cry of despair in the search for a safe future and pray for Australian Government leadership who may not have envisaged such suffering in re-enacting offshore processing, but who now cannot shy from the reality of the damage that has been done.
They are standing with the Manus Island and PNG people who are facing the presumption that they are not a safe and hospitable nation and cannot be trusted to host these vulnerable men and plead that if the men are to remain in PNG for now, that force is not used to relocate them and that the Australian Government contributes to securing their dignity and safety.
I was one of a number of church leaders who entered the Ellenbrook office of Hon Christian Porter MP on Monday. We went to ask Mr Porter and the Federal Government to bring to Australia all people imprisoned in offshore processing centres. We took this action in solidarity with the more than 400 men on Manus Island who are refusing to leave the ‘closed’ processing centre.
We went there in love, because we believe that Love Makes A Way.
The men imprisoned on Manus are engaging in nonviolent resistance, and demanding the rights and freedoms afforded to them by the Refugee Convention. As part of the Love Makes A Way movement, we hold a strong commitment to nonviolence and are seeking a response of compassion and justice from the government.
We went in love.
Uniting Church in Australia President Stuart McMillan has called on the Australian Government to ensure the safety of refugees on Manus Island as the main detention facility is due to close today.
Around 600 refugees have refused to leave because they fear their safety outside of the Regional Processing Centre.
“Australia cannot walk away from its responsibility to guarantee the safety of these men who have already suffered so much uncertainty and fear,” said Stuart.
Water and electricity will be turned off and food and medical services will no longer be provided as the centre is shut down today.
The Australian Government plans to transfer the refugees to other accommodation closer to the island’s main town of Lorengau.