15 Henley Rd
(PO Box 2219)
Homebush West,
NSW 2140
AUSTRALIA
Ph: (02) 8762 4200
Fx: (02) 8762 4220
Int'l Ph: +61 2 8762 4200
Int'l Fx: +61 2 8762 4220
Email: erc@erc.org.au
Located just 100 metres to the south of Flemington Railway Station. Link to new location on Google Maps
5 Abingdon St
(Postal: 84 Park Rd)
Woolloongabba,
QLD 4102
Ph 1: (07) 3103 7376
Ph 2: (02) 8090 1976
Fax: (02) 8762 4220
Staffed part-time
- please call for appt
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Sydney, 4th October 2007
The Edmund Rice Centre - with a long background in working with people from the Horn of Africa, including refugees from Sudan - strongly rejected the Immigration Minister’s decision to reduce the African intake in Australia’s humanitarian visa program.
“Australia’s humanitarian programs must be based on need not on race. This fundamental tenet of a civilised nation should not be abandoned because an election is imminent”, Phil Glendenning, Edmund Rice Centre Director said today.
“It is very problematic to apply the criteria used for other forms of migration to refugees. The point behind humanitarian visas is that the people they are issued to require our help. Refugees are displaced people who have had no choice in being forced to flee from their countries.
“The Minister’s claim that the refugees from the Horn of Africa have lower educational standards is evidence of the need for support, not for rejection”, Mr Glendenning said.
“The UNHCR has reported that the needs of the Sudanese refugees are the most urgent in the world. The Government’s decision is bad policy. Compassion for people in need is not a weakness but a sign of strength in a nation”, Mr Glendenning said.
“The bottom line is that the Government sees itself in political difficulty approaching the election and is deliberately targeting one of the world’s most vulnerable communities for some sort of political gain. This is not leadership. This is lowest common denominator politics at its worst and indicates what some politicians think of the people who elect them”, Mr Glendenning said.
“Our experience supports the view of the Victorian Police who have reported that refugees from the Horn of Africa, on a per capita basis, are less likely to offend or be disruptive in the community than other Australians, who have been here a lot longer than them.
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ERC's success in mounting a coherent argument for the reopening of the cases of those asylum seekers that Australia has deported to danger, has been based on rigorous research in situ in the countries to which these people were returned.
Such work has high levels of risk for our researchers and for the deportees. We are committed to accompanying these vulnerable people to achieve safety. In many cases their treatment by Australia has placed them at greater risk than when they were first forced to flea their place of origin.
The results of this research conducted by ERC Director Phil Glendenning and colleagues has been published in two reports: Deported to Danger. Information about the research and copies of the reports are available here.
The unique nature of this human rights research work means that it does not qualify for most sources of funding from agencies. The work can therefore only be continued through your support. To donate please go to our donations page.
Donations for this ERC work are tax deductible!
