The Rudd Government’s new policy on asylum seekers is “morally bankrupt” and “unworthy of a civilised community”, according to Rev Andrew Palmer, spokesperson for the Association of Baptist Churches in NSW and the ACT.
Rev Palmer, who is also the NSW state director of Global Interaction, said the church joins with others “in condemning the Rudd Government”s announcement of a policy which expands offshore processing at enormous cost to Australian taxpayers, and removes any possibility of asylum seekers who come by boat from being resettled in Australia.”
“Every person seeking asylum is created in God”s image and is loved unconditionally by God, and Christians have an obligation to demonstrate this same love toward asylum seekers through compassion, advocacy and hospitality,” Rev Palmer said. “Instead of slamming the door and turning our backs on those in need, we should welcome and assist them to make a new life in the country of their choice.”
In a statement, the association says the new policy places innocent children in danger of serious physical and psychological harm in sub-standard, temporary and overcrowded detention facilities in Papua New Guinea.
It points out that Australia accepts less than 0.3 per cent of the world’s refugees and that 90 per cent of asylum seekers who arrive by boat are subsequently found to have valid claims for refugee status.
Rev Palmer called upon the Rudd Government “to abandon its morally bankrupt and politically opportunist policy on asylum seekers”.
“We expect our Government to honour its obligations under international law to guarantee asylum seekers access to protections, and to ensure that all decisions about children who seek to come to Australia by boat are made with the best interests of the children as the primary consideration,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Australian Christian Lobby has described the PNG “arrangement” as an “acceptable response to the tragedy of deaths at sea as long as humanitarian concerns are met and it allows Australia to expand its refugee intake to areas of greatest need”.
In a statement, the organisation’s managing director Lyle Shelton said while the new policy “hinges on a lot of complex detail which is yet to be resolved, including providing humane living conditions for asylum seekers whose claims are being processed in PNG”, if it is successful in stopping deaths and resettling people humanely, “Australians must not be lulled into thinking that our responsibility as a nation to asylum seekers is over”.
“The impasse over people smuggling has diverted both public and parliamentary attention from areas of real and pressing need,” he said.
Mr Shelton called for a prioritising of people from vulnerable minorities in Syria and Egypt and those who have been in refugee camps as a result of previous conflicts.
“There are 45 million displaced people fleeing persecution and we have a responsibility as a nation to do our part and to work with the international community to help these people regardless of whether or not the boats are stopped.”
