IEU - End Mandatory Detention: Pacific Solution

Issues:

1. As a result of the Pacific Solution the cost of processing asylum seekers is currently estimated at $482 million this financial year. This is more than double the previous Budget estimate (provided in May) of $232 million. This has raised concerns within the Federal Parliament that the Pacific Solution is unsustainable in the long term.
   
   
2. Concerns have been expressed by Oxfam Community Aid Abroad that Australia has inappropriately used its aid budget to achieve expedient political objectives, placing the overall program's legitimacy in doubt. The Pacific Solution has seen Nauru receive $30 million and Papua New Guinea receive $1 million and ?technical and other assistance? to aid the PNG Government address its own 'illegal' movement of people. AusAID officials have also admitted pushing through a $34 million aid package to PNG in just two-weeks during the 2001 election campaign, raising doubts as to whether the aid was part of the deal to house asylum seekers in PNG. In addition the Australian Government has paid for the construction and operation of all detention centres in Pacific nations. Over $100 million has already been allocated to establishing and maintaining processing facilities. This is expected to rise as more asylum seekers are relocated to these camps. In the case of Nauru this represents a significant proportion of GDP and almost 10 times the aid planned for in the Budget.

3. Serious concerns have been raised over the Australian Government's attempts to curtail access to asylum seekers in detention. There have been protests from the International Federation of Journalists, the Australian Journalists' Union and the editors of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald amongst others, and concerns have been raised by the UNHCR, over the restrictions placed on the media. Journalists are not allowed to speak to detainees face-to-face. Guards frequently hang hessian over the fence of detention centres such as Woomera to obscure the view. After a volleyball game was organised for asylum seekers housed in Nauru, to which the media were invited, the Australian Government expressed its displeasure. Nauru has since denied media access to the asylum seekers, a policy also implemented in PNG. During the recent Woomera crisis the media were forced to move a kilometer back from the centre resulting in the arrest of an ABC journalist. These restrictions have since been claimed to be more stringent then those applying to media access to ?Camp X-ray' in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This level of secrecy has serious implications for Australian democracy and runs counter to the UNHCR's international media policy.

4. Concerns have been raised over the use of naval resources to prevent the arrival of asylum seekers to Australian, as part of ?Border Protection'. This has led to reported tension within the Australian Defence Forces (ADF) with contradictory positions held by senior officers over events leading up to the election. Former senior ADF officers have criticised the Government's ?politicisation? of the ADF.

5. The current arrangements do not solve the problem of where those found to be genuine refugees are eventually housed.

6. Australia's has shifted its own humanitarian responsibilities to other countries (such as New Zealand) who have agreed to accept asylum seekers from the Pacific Solution.

7. Australia was involved in establishing and funding the processing centre in Jakarta. Yet Australia has refused to accept refugees from Jakarta believing that this would encourage more asylum seekers to come through Indonesia to Australia. In a burden sharing agreement Australia has since agreed to take some processed refugees, although to date it has accepted only one. 30 refugees who recently drowned off the coast of Indonesia had previously been accepted as refugees by the UNHCR but had not been accepted by any third country for resettlement.

8. The Pacific Solution has caused criticism from other leaders in the region, church leaders and non-government organisations for being ?big brother? and breaching the 'dignity' of smaller island states.

9. Health concerns have been raised over the conditions on Pacific Islands, particularly Manus Island in PNG where it alleged there has been a severe outbreak of malaria.
   

Alternatives:

1. End Pacific Solution and enter into multilateral negotiations not only with Indonesia, but also with source countries such as Afghanistan and resettlement countries in the developed world. Recognise that a solution to people-smuggling must address unauthorised migration more generally and address the overwhelming problem of refugees. Any agreement is likely to include a commitment by Australia to:

2. Increase funding to countries of first asylum, the UNCHR, countries of transit and countries in crises to enable these countries and organisations to provide refuge as close to the asylum seekers home country as possible.

3. Increase the number of refugees Australia and other developed nations accept through the resettlement program. Most countries receive the majority of their refugees as unauthorised arrivals due to their direct land access to destablised regions. Therefore, it must be recognised that countries like Australia, which are protected by natural barriers, must accept a greater responsibility for offering resettlement places.

4. Accept a greater number of refugees from processing centres in our region, particularly Indonesia. This would also give asylum seekers an incentive to seek out UNHCR assistance at an earlier point in their journey.

5. Make a commitment to process all claims for asylum and grant protection to any asylum seeker making valid claims for refugee status in accord with the letter and intent of Article 31 of the 1951 Refugee Convention. This must include processing the claims of those intercepted on route to Australia in Australian jurisdiction.
   Facilitate voluntary repatriation of refugees living in Australia where conditions in the home country have improved. This is in keeping with UNHCR standards that emphasise the right of refugees to return to their home countries once the threat to their safety has been removed. No refugee should be forced or pressured to leave the country.

6. Rescind amendments to the Migration Act that remove parts of Australia from the Migration Zone.

7. Allegations have been made that people-smugglers known to both the Australian and Indonesian authorities have been able to continue operating due to a lack of legislation prohibiting people smuggling outside Australia. In order to overcome this it is necessary to assist Indonesia and other countries in the region to develop a cooperative legal framework to enable the identification, arrest and prosecution of suspected people smugglers. The financial burden of any such initiative should be borne by Australia.