Australia's plans to offload refugees

On 17 April 2007 the Australian Government announced plans for a 'swap' of refugees between the United States and Australia.

As part of the plan refugees detained by Australia on Nauru would be sent to America and, in return, Cuban or Haitian refugees detained by the American Government at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba would be resettled in Australia.

Immigration and Citizenship Minister, Kevin Andrews announced that the exchange could involve up to 200 refugees per year.

There are still many details of the proposal that are not yet known to Amnesty International Australia, however the plan appears to be unnecessarily harsh and is a further move to keep families separated.

Health conditions deny protection to refugees

Earlier this month Australian Prime Minister John Howard made a statement indicating that Australia would not accept asylum seekers who were HIV positive.

For some time Amnesty International Australia has been concerned that the Australian Government's health restrictions leave refugees in exceptionally vulnerable positions based on the fact that they have contracted HIV. These people have virtually no opportunity to find protection in Australia.

Look out for...

The Australian Labour Party's National Conference was held in Sydney on 28-30 April. One of the agenda items was 'Respecting Human Rights and A Fair Go For All'. Keep an eye out for any public comments relating to refugees as part of this debate.

Speak out about plans to 'swap' refugees

Speak out about plans to 'swap' refugees as though they are a commodity, not individual humans. A simple way to do this is to make a call to a talkback radio station or to write a letter to the editor or opinion section of your local paper.

Here's some tips about what you can say:

• Welcome measures to get refugees off Nauru as quickly as possible but not through unnecessarily harsh measures and not causing family separation - the plan appears to give no consideration as to whether or not a refugee has family in Australia or the US.
• Explain that playing with the lives of people who face human rights abuses is completely unacceptable. The plan would allow the USA to refuse protection to people whom Australia finds to be refugees.
• Call on the Australian Government to meet its own international legal obligations.

If you phone talkback radio, you'll have about 30 seconds on air, so make sure you stay focused and get to the point. Letters to the editor work best if they're timely and concise.

Keep your letter to about 200 words and focus on one point. Include your name, address, postcode and phone number, even if you're sending it by email.