BEV HOLMES-BROWN laments Australia’s policy of offshore processing for those seeking asylum…
When the British Government transported criminals and political enemies to this far off land, their plan was kinder than ours. Convicts who had done their time were given land and support to prosper and build families and livelihoods. Rehabilitation was a serious goal of that era and many championed this cause.
William Wilberforce, for example, fought for the rights of convict men and women. He and others believed the original owners of the land were to be respected and even fought to protect aboriginal place names and rights in recognition of this.
PICTURE: Pexels (posed by model).
“This is a time of great shame for Australia. A time for mourning and for weeping because we have sown noxious seeds that future generations will be forced to deal with.”
Privileged white men with greedy, ambitious agendas were the enemies of such sanity then as well as today.
Our current governments transported innocent men and women to remote places and refused to even hear their cases or discover their need to be rescued for years.
They decided a few must be deemed guilty regardless of the weight of proof declaring their innocence.
They decided a few must be abused to scare away others fleeing danger.
They decided to deny safety, fair processing and humane settlement for this randomly selected group even if it meant funding corrupt leaders in other nations to do so.
They decided the damage done to foreign cultures, governments and peoples was acceptable fallout.
They decided a select group of human beings were disposable to the extent that mental and physical health and strength were negligible losses.
Extreme suffering and violence have characterised their response to genuine requests for rescue for way too long.
Leading parties have tarnished their brands and brand Australia by denying healing, safety, resettlement and futures to their victims. Truly the people smugglers showed more mercy and humanity in securing passage to a nation that just a few years ago was considered compassionate.
Nobody could have guessed that our body of ambitious, privileged, white men and women would restrict media voices, hide operations, pay off corrupt politicians and float private prison makers whilst disregarding a multitude of laws, to enact their policies.
Nobody knew that doctors, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, teachers, social workers, lawyers, detention centre workers and visitors would be seen as the enemies of these policies. Or that advocating for the vulnerable would become an unwelcome activity.
Nobody knew that Australia, the “lucky” country, would defy sanity and reason and sound advice to become so brutal. Many, including the Jews, have likened our policies to Nazi agendas. There was a time, a few years ago, when this was an extreme idea. Now the number of refugees who are acutely ill or who have been physically maimed or damaged and are seriously mentally ill brings this discussion to the foreground.
No modern society can excuse what Australia has done. Only corruption hinders the progression of the various cases before the International Criminal Court for we have, without any shadow of doubt, committed multitudes of ‘crimes against humanity’.
The personal grief and damage experienced by all who encounter this hostile regime, Aussies and others, is significantly concerning.
This Government has been willing to cause great pain and suffering to men who were illegally transported and incarcerated in a land where you can pay thugs to disregard their own Supreme Court rulings.
This is a time of great shame for Australia. A time for mourning and for weeping because we have sown noxious seeds that future generations will be forced to deal with.
It is incredible that the enablers of this regime esteem small present victories over sinister future outcomes.
Can they really be so foolish as to think that raising a generation in a climate where dehumanisation of the vulnerable is acceptable holds no tragic outcomes?
I can only pray for fast and humane solutions and for the instigators at the helm of this humanitarian disaster to be quickly removed.
