Refugee Action Coalition Sydney notes with dismay the proposal to detain asylum seekers or refugees on another small island, Norfolk Island this time.
When word of the contents of this article reached Manus and Nauru, there was considerable distress – ‘Are they really going to send us to another island where nobody wants us?’ was the general feeling. RISE Refugee has also condemned the proposal.
We note RISE Refugee’s general condemnation of advocates or humanitarian groups suggesting anti-refugee proposals, and caution the refugee support movement against attempting to compromise with governments in the hope that policy will improve. Where refugees object to such compromise proposals, so must we.
The co-originator of the now 18-month-old proposal has put out a statement rejecting Norfolk Island as an option, adding that ‘There is simply no alternative but to close the camps and bring them here…it is time to end the suffering and bring everyone to Australia to safety’. We remain concerned at the further anguish media reporting on the proposal could cause, with at least one popular radio station claiming that “asylum seekers could soon be moved to Norfolk Island as space is now being made” despite this being highly unlikely.
We unequivocally oppose any proposal to use Norfolk Island.
The only morally and legally viable way forward is for everybody who has been held on Nauru and Manus Island to come to Australia.
