Dear friend,

Imagine risking your life to reach safety, only to be sent to a country where you could be beaten, tortured and imprisoned in disease-ridden cells.

That’s exactly what our government wants to do with 800 asylum seekers including children in a deal with Malaysia -- a country that has not signed the Refugee Convention and with a long record of mistreating refugees.

20 June is World Refugee Day. Let’s tell the Prime Minister: don’t send vulnerable people to an uncertain future that risks their lives.

We’re not the only ones appalled by this policy. This week, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen told us that unaccompanied children will be part of the deal with Malaysia – a move labelled "morally reprehensible" by the UN child protection agency UNICEF [1].

And despite polls showing that two-thirds of Australians want the deal scrapped the government has continued to push ahead [2]. Instead they want this policy wrapped up and out of the papers before the end of the month.

We still have time to stop this deal. Add your name now, and we’ll deliver the petition to the Prime Minister in the run up to World Refugee Day on 20 June.

In an Amnesty report released last year, we’ve painstakingly documented what actually happens to refugees in Malaysia [3]. We’ve seen how asylum seekers are subject to detention in appalling conditions and to caning. How refugees have no legal rights and must work illegally to support themselves. And how many speak of harassment, physical abuse, sexual assault and extortion. In fact, our first-hand footage of caning has been shown across all TV networks [4]. Why? Because it brutally exposes Malaysia’s treatment of asylum seekers.

The inconvenient truth for our political leaders is that asylum seekers arriving at our shores need protection from persecution. Let’s stop making an example of those who legitimately need our help, and instead work to develop a regional framework to protect people fleeing war, torture and violence. Click here to add your name now.

In hope for a humane solution,

Alex Pagliaro
Refugee Coordinator
Amnesty International Australia

PS. You may have heard Immigration Minister Chris Bowen claiming that special measures will spare our asylum seekers from abuse in Malaysia. But the truth is it will be near impossible to ensure their safety among 90,000 refugees, many of whom already carry identity cards that are ignored by vigilante groups. Sign our petition now

[1] UN's outrage over Chris Bowen's plan for sending children to Malaysia

[2] Julia Gillard's Malaysian Solution on the rocks

[3] Malaysia: Torture practiced systematically in widespread caning

[4] Dr. Graham Thom on Meet the Press, 22 May 2011