Archbishop of Sydney

Refugees

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
3 February 2002

There is now time and space for a cautious optimism and for further improvements. Minister Ruddock's suggestions that Woomera might be downgraded on phased out for many refugees is also welcome.

On the Australia Day holiday, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference chairman, Archbishop Frank Carroll, issued a statement saying that "while we can sympathise with the government in dealing with the problems of asylum seekers," the situation in the Woomera detention centre is causing "widespread unease in the Australian community."

The Catholic bishops accept the right and responsibility of the Australian Government to regulate immigration. They also appreciate that such a policy might be devised to act as a deterrent to unauthorised non-citizens arriving in large numbers.

This difficult moral and political problem must be dealt with according to the rule of law, while respecting the dignity of individuals and the integrity of the family unit as much as possible, as well as the rights of asylum seekers.

At the same time, we also have to recognise the constraints of Australian public opinion. But public opinion can change substantially and sometimes quickly, especially if serious harm or loss of life occurs.

Taking all this into account, the basic point the bishops made in their statement was that the present policies entail unacceptable moral costs, and risk provoking continued extreme protests to the detriment of public standards in Australian community life and our reputation abroad.

The statement proposed a range of short-term options as different, possibly alternative ways of improving the situation. Children under 16 years, especially unaccompanied minors, should be released into foster care in the community under special Temporary Residence Visas.

Intact families should be released into home or community based detention on "safe haven" visas like those given to the Kosovars in 1999, perhaps with reporting requirements and restrictions on travel similar to those used in the criminal parole process. Another possibility here would be to release mothers and children under similar conditions, although breaking up families in this way is not the preferred option.

Another suggestion was that given the changes in Afghanistan, there could be a special review of the interim situation of Afghan refugees. The Prime Minister's suggestion of a repatriation allowance to help those determined not to be refugees to return to their homeland is a good idea.

We also need to examine the strategies for deal with this problem in the long-term problem. The "Pacific solution" is unlikely to be sustainable, especially once the monsoon season ends and the boats begin sailing again. International co-operation is crucial, and the regional conference in Bali later this month provides an important opportunity, especially for closer co-operation with Indonesia.

With the end of the protests at Woomera and the hopeful signs emerging from the government, the worst is over for the moment. The task now is to build on this and improve the way we deal with this problem for the future.