Abolition of Detention Debts
By buddies • Jun 23rd, 2009 • Category: News/ InformationReform of detention debt regime under threat - please write letters From AJA (A Just Australia) June Newsletter, 2009
Many of you will know that Australia is the only country in the world that charges asylum seekers for the cost of their detention (even if they are proven to be refugees) which is a contravention of Article 29 of the Refugee Convention. The practice of imposing detention debts can have huge negative impacts on the lives of refugees, burdening them with debts reaching into the hundreds of thousands when they are trying to build a new life in Australia. The scheme does not result in any financial benefit to the government since administrative costs outweigh or are roughly equal to the debts recovered. Several bipartisan committees have recommended ending the detention debt regime, describing it as ‘an extremely harsh policy’. Thus in March this year the government introduced a Bill to abolish the practice of detention debts. Yet in a move that has no perceivable basis other than political point-scoring, the Coalition has decided to block the Bill if the government tries to pass it. The Coalition will succeed only if all Liberal Senators and independent Senator Steve Fielding vote to block the Bill (The Greens and independent Senator Nick Xenophon are likely to support the Bill).
What you can do: Write to Senator Fielding and the Liberal Senators, asking them to support the Migration Amendment (Abolishing Detention Debt) Bill 2009 to end this unjust practice. The sooner the Bill gains enough support in the Senate, the sooner the government will move to pass the Bill. The contact details of Senators can be found at
www.aph.gov.au/Senate/Senators/index.htm.