Earlier this month, RUOK? Day came and went, with virtually no-one asking after the welfare of more than 10,000 asylum seekers in Australia… men and women who have been waiting for a decision from government on their future for more than decade. Jane Salmon speaks out.
Having been vilified and blocked for over a decade, asylum seekers needing permanent visas are not OK.
The recent death by self-immolation of refugee activist Mano Yogalingam barely attracted public comment and certainly nothing from the Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke.
There have been several deaths and many trips to hospital for this small cohort this year. The suicide toll for those in limbo across more than a decade is as high or higher than for the most acutely vulnerable Australian citizens.
There are currently 24/7 vigils in 5 capitals. The first began nearly 60 days ago in wintry Melbourne. No-one camps outside on cold concrete for fun.
The message of these vigils is clear. Hardworking and deserving taxpayers are forced to wait too long for the permanent visas they deserve. They are tired of paying taxes for, yet still missing out on, access to affordable tertiary study, steady Medicare, bank loans, continuity, permanent jobs. They are tired of Facetiming their children or any remaining relatives instead of hugging them. They want to know when the fear of deportation will finally lift. They would love to be able to get mortgages and look forward to voting.
Refugees can and do offer Australia a great deal. These people feel they have no other safe home. They are dynamic workers, builders, family and community members. They volunteer and donate blood enthusiastically. In return Australia has demanded front-line work during a pandemic. What’s next? We start demanding their kidneys?!
Their 24/7 protest camps are well maintained. There is music and good food. Hospitality and fellowship extends beyond ethnicity or language to embrace everyone attending. There is a warmth and courtesy that seems exceptional to anyone lucky enough to be Aussie-born.
But these people are desperate for change. Many of them shirk a medical check up at the GP, in the same way that citizens avoid $5,000 crowns or root canals.
All it takes to help them is for Labor to recognise that they are governing now and that it is incumbent upon them to act in the current political term.
Last week in Brisbane, tents and even a memorial to the recently deceased refugee Manu were taken down (by shopping centre security) after 23 days outside Jim Chalmers’ office in Logan City. The removal of refugees’ carefully maintained protest and property caused deep distress.
People have invested a great deal in the protests. They have taken long breaks from home comforts to sleep on the ground. They have given up precious time with any children who are here. They have shared resources to secure enough tents, barbeques, bedding, printing, microphones, speakers, transport and food.
For those at vigils, the most elusive resource is hope. The national discourse has been rejecting or downright hostile. (Neo Nazi and right wing bloggers have taunted people at the camp. On 6 September racists were incited to attack the Melbourne encampment, pulling hair and punching heads). Many have run the gauntlet of courts seeking a pathway to permanence.
Live video scenes from the Brisbane camp teardown are hard to watch. I have not seen grown men in such emotional pain for a long time. A woman collapsed. Another person went to hospital for heart palpitations attributed to anxiety.
It is risky to be there. Arrest could lead to deportation.
The real cure for this pain is not moving camp, another anti-depressant or group hug. Nor is it yet another political promise. Any suggestion that Labor will be doing better by this group next term is Labor conceding that they have had and still have no commitment or courage now.
If Labor continue to wave the white flag on this issue, it is an admission that they are too weak or too uncaring to govern. Dutton is still the nation’s leader, even from opposition.
Labor spent 9 years in opposition and failed to change racist narratives. The time for action is now – not the political never-never.
All it takes is a sweep of Tony Burke’s pen, and 10,000 desperate people can be re-connected with their own futures.
It is not OK for Labor to postpone another day.
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