World Refugee Day

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Greens Senator Kerry Nettle. This means that the motion is rejected.

The motion was:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

_(i) 20 June 2006 is World Refugee Day and the day’s theme is ‘keeping the flame of hope alive’,_

(ii) there are more than 19 million refugees and 5.5 million internally displaced people in the world looking for protection,

(iii) many countries assist hundreds of thousands of refugees who have no choice but to flee persecution,

_(iv) the Government has changed its policy, breaching the Refugee Convention, in response to the arrival of 43 refugees, and_(Senator Nettle is referring to an incident where 43 West Papuan asylum seekers sought asylum in Australia. To read more about the incident see here and to read more about the Government's response see here.)

_(v) the Government’s new policy will mean many asylum seekers who arrive by boat are exiled to Nauru or Manus Island; and_

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) drop its policy of appeasing Indonesia and ensure Australia’s refugee laws conform fully with the Refugee Convention, and

(ii) consider increasing Australia’s intake of refugees and offer asylum seekers real hope, durable solutions and significantly improved settlement services.

References