15th August, 2014
Australian Baptist Ministries head Rev Keith Jobberns has written to the Immigration Minister Scott Morrison asking no babies or children be placed in immigration detention.
Rev Jobberns said the government should "reappraise" the practice of holding babies and children in detention "to reduce the harmful effects on these young innocents".
"We are convinced, on the basis of human rights and our moral obligation to asylum seekers, as followers of Jesus and as Australian citizens, that babies and children must not be placed in immigration detention either onshore or offshore," he said.
Rev Jobberns, whose organisation represents some 150,000 people in 970 Baptist churches, said he had formally requested a meeting with Mr Morrison to discuss the issue.
His call follows the publication last month of an Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce report, Protecting the Lonely Children, which called for responsibility for unaccompanied children who arrive as asylum seekers to be given to an independent guardian rather than Mr Morrison, for the overhaul of processes unaccompanied asylum seeker children face when trying to access protection, and for an end to offshore detention for unaccompanied minors.
Rev Jobberns said he affirmed the findings and recommendations of the report.
– DAVID ADAMS
