Human Rights Watch urged Australia’s new prime minister yesterday to lift a controversial freeze on Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum claims and end “refugee-bashing” ahead of elections.
The New York-based group said Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who has signaled a tough approach on immigration, should resume processing Afghan and Sri Lankan claims after a suspension which has been criticized by the UN.
“Ending the suspension of Sri Lankan and Afghan claims would be an excellent start to Gillard’s government and demonstrate her commitment to human rights,” the group’s acting Asia director Elaine Pearson said.
Gillard, who deposed former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd in a party coup and will face elections within months, has called for an end to “political correctness” in the debate over the boatloads of asylum seekers reaching Australia’s north.
Australia’s first woman prime minister is poised to make an announcement on the issue this week, as a three-month freeze on Sri Lankan claims ends on Thursday. Afghan claims are currently suspended for another three months.
“In an election year, the Gillard government should reset the debate on the treatment of refugees and end refugee-bashing for political gain,” Pearson said.
Gillard spent her first week in office defusing a row over a mining tax and has made it her next priority to address the issue of asylum-seekers, which arouses strong passions in Australia and is likely to be a major factor at the polls.
Rudd came under sustained pressure after scrapping the harsh immigration policies of conservative former Australian prime minister John Howard, which current opposition leader Tony Abbott has pledged to reinstate.
“For people to say they’re anxious about border security doesn’t make them intolerant. It certainly doesn’t make them a racist,” Gillard said on Sunday.
“So I’d like to sweep away any sense that people should close down any debate, including this debate, through a sense of self-censorship or political correctness,” she added.
The Australian newspaper yesterday said, without citing sources, that Gillard’s government was planning to send Afghan asylum-seekers home under an agreement with the Kabul government that would guarantee their safety.
Gillard was to meet her Cabinet yesterday to address the issue.
Australia has long been a destination for asylum seekers, with most coming from Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka. The Christmas Island detention center, built for 800, has been overflowing for months as more than 2,000 people have arrived by boat this year.
Ruling party member Simon Crean said the government’s new approach would focus more on working with neighboring countries.
“She [Gillard] also understands it’s terribly important that we develop a regional response; we talk more effectively to our neighbors about how we address it,” he told Nine Network television.
However, Abbott said Gillard had helped shape her party’s policy and a revamp of border protection under the Labor party would not change the status quo.
“I have a simple message to the Australian people: If you want to stop the boats you’ve got to change the government,” Abbott said on Sunday.
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