The High Court of Australia was right in its judgement on the Malaysia solution, writes Dr Martin Drum
In one of its most publicised decisions in recent times, the High Court ruled that the federal government’s ‘Malaysian solution’ is unconstitutional. Naturally, the decision attracted much comment. It has been praised by a range of organisations, including the CEO of St Vincent de Paul’s National Council, Dr John Falzon.
Dr Falzon said, “Right across Australia, the grassroots members of the St Vincent de Paul Society will be warmly welcoming the High Court decision”.
Why would the CEO of a major Catholic organisation make such a comment? Why would St Vincent de Paul members welcome this decision? The answer lies in Dr Falzon’s next statement:
“This is a victory for human rights. We now need to turn this into a new direction for the government; a direction based on dignity and respect for asylum seekers rather than demonisation and repression.”
Two words from Dr Falzon’s statement resonate in particular: dignity and respect. The principle of treating every person with dignity and according them respect is an essential element of Catholic Social Teaching.
It is repeated frequently in such papal encyclicals as Rerum Novarum, Pacem in Terris and Populorum Progressio, amongst others. In the Gospels, Christ treated people of all backgrounds with dignity and respect, especially those who were treated with disdain by sections of the community. We have a right to dignity and respect, and a responsibility to look after the rights of others.
Where do such values sit in the contemporary asylum debate?
Every person who arrives in Australia seeking protection has value and deserves kindness and compassion. This doesn’t mean we have to accept them all as refugees, but we at least have to treat them with decency.
We have had a number of poor policy responses to the asylum seeker issue in the past, but the Malaysian solution is perhaps the worst we have seen. Sending asylum seekers, including unaccompanied children, to a country which hasn’t even the slightest human rights protections in place is appalling. It amounts to a complete abrogation of our duty to consider their application for asylum. That is why we have seen Church leaders condemn offshore processing in the past.
Likewise, holding asylum seekers in detention for long periods of time amounts to a failure to treat other human beings with the respect they deserve. There are now numerous studies providing very clear evidence of how such practices are leading to depression and severe mental illness.
Ways need to be found to process people who arrive here faster, so that certainty on their future can be provided in a timely fashion. This would also prevent overcrowding in our detention centres. Can we eliminate the need for people to seek asylum? The refugee problem is a complex one, ultimately originating in a myriad of global social and political conflicts.
To expect Australia to solve such challenges on its own is difficult, although increasing sustainable development assistance in a range of target areas would undoubtedly help. This is a long term approach which will take time to produce real dividends.
What about stopping people smuggling? Yes, we do need to tackle this issue, especially as this is a trade which profits out of other people’s misery. But our policy approach has been to punish their human cargo rather than address the trade itself.
People smuggling is a product of the social and political circumstances it originates from, a fact which is continually overlooked in this debate. Security experts will tell you that one of the underlying causes of this policy debacle has been a failure of border protection. But the failure I am talking about is not Australia’s.
Aside from the sad tragedy at Christmas Island, our security services have picked up boats coming into our waters and escorted them to the appropriate facilities.
The problem lies in countries to our north. It is well known that Indonesian authorities, whilst making strong advances in governance in recent years, nevertheless lack the ability to control everyone who enters or leaves their vast archipelago of islands.
A range of people smugglers, Islamic militants, and even pirates continue to operate without adequate policing.
Last week, friends of mine on a cruise were fortunate to survive an attempted pirate attack off the Indonesian coast. These attacks are frequent, and damage the local economies in which they occur.
Indonesia knows it has a problem and would welcome additional financial support and strategic advice to fix it. This is where our government should start; help Indonesia improve border protection and help ourselves whilst we’re at it.
Dr Martin Drum is a senior lecturer in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle campus.