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

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) Article 14

WHO ARE THEY?

‘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)

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

IN WAVES:

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.’

‘Let them come’

human rights

compassion

‘asylum seekers’ ‘refugees’

Greens

Fairfax/ABC

‘Turn them back’

border protection

security

‘illegal immigrants,’ ‘queue jumpers’ Act: ‘unauthorized maritime arrivals’

Liberal/NP 

NewsCorp

‘LEFT’ VS. ‘RIGHT’:

http://expertpanelonasylumseekers.dpmc.gov.au

AngusHouston

ParisAristotle

Michael L’Estrange

EXPERT PANEL:

IMAs irregularmaritime 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 causesHelp countries of first asylum

Regional cooperationand capacity building

Disrupt smugglers

Excisemainland

Quicker RSD, but using regional processing

&

Raise to 20,000Allow some skilledIMAs: no SHP families

Distributeresettlement

Removals and returns

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

• 4000+ people• Australia

50/yr• Expert Panel:

‘substantial increase in additional places from Indonesia’

• $$$$

UNHCR JAKARTA

EXCISION AND REGIONAL PROCESSING

NAURU

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: PANEL EXPECTS/REQUIRES --

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.

NAURU: MINISTER BOWEN REPORTS --

God’sCharacter

‘The people of the land … oppress

the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice. ... So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger …’ [Ezek. 22:29,31].

TOWARD A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE (PART 2):

God’sCharacter

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)

New future

God’sCharacter

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

Community‘in Christ’

God’sCharacter

Creation

Jew vs. Gentile: ‘he is our peace… [he] has broken down the dividing

wall, that is, the hostility between us.’ (Eph. 2:14)

New future

Community‘in Christ’

God’sCharacter

Israel: ‘when an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treatedas one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt” (Leviticus 19:33-34).

Fall / ‘Flesh’ :disordered

desires false belonging

Creation

Commands

Fall / ‘Flesh’ :disordered

desires false belonging

Christ’s Spirit:reordered desires,

true inclusion (‘love’)

New future

Community‘in Christ’

God’sCharacter

Creation

Commands

‘Xenophilia is commanded of us: the neighbour whom we are to love is the foreigner whom we en-counter on the road.’ [Oliver O’Donovan]

A CONSERVATIVE RESPONSE FOR CHRISTIANSAsk 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 …