Australia Denies Asylum

Earlier this month, the Australian government made the appalling move of suspending all asylum applications by people from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Those continuing to arrive are being held at detention centres but are being denied the right to apply for asylum. Instead, the Australian government has indicated that it will simply review the situation for Sri Lanks after three months and for Afghans after six.

Today, the UNHCR criticised the government for refusing to consider alternatives to detention for asylum seekers. The UN agency highlighted the lack of judicial oversight and the geographic isolation of the detention centres as serious concerns.

There is substantial evidence that unnecessary prolonged detention, in such isolated surroundings, can result in serious negative maladies for the physical and mental health of detainees. Such detrimental effects are worsened by the fact that many asylum seekers have been victims of torture before taking the decision to flee their homelands.

The pernicious actions of the Australian government need to be reversed and the UNHCR should be expressing more than disappointment with the progress that has been made so far from discussions between both parties. The peoples of Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have greatly suffered under recent war time conditions and those fleeing should not be punished further.