Dear Mr. O’Connor,
During the past Liberal government’s term in office, many Australians were appalled to read about the incarceration of refugees for up to several years in detention centres.
I had always thought that the Labor government would treat refugees better, but I heard on today’s news that some Sri Lankan refugees have been detained for as long as four years, on the basis of material given to ASIO by the Sri Lankan government.
Australia has recently also returned many Sri Lankan refugees to Sri Lanka, despite the fact that the Sri Lankan government views those who leave Sri Lanka as “traitors”, and will treat them accordingly when they are returned against their will.
The Sri Lankan government’s treatment of its people is the reason why they have chosen to leave their homes and country. People from both sides in the war in Sri Lanka now hold positions of power in the present government, and these people have been accused of or implicated in war crimes. Leading members of the Sri Lankan government were involved in the killing of large numbers of civilians, for example the shelling of hospitals and areas where people were encouraged to congregate for safety during the war.
Has Australia become such a right-wing country that it takes the word of past and present terrorists and criminals, and refuses to give a place of safety to people who have risked their lives to escape Sri Lanka? We should be able to examine the so-called evidence given to ASIO and to fairly assess Sri Lankan refugees. However, the evidence from the Sri Lankan government has been kept secret. Even the refugees themselves have not been allowed to see the evidence against them.
I ask you, Mr. O’Connor, to allow these people to read what has been said about them by the despotic regime in Sri Lanka, and to defend themselves. Once they have had access to genuine assessment and justice, then please let these people into the community.
An example of the lack of justice Australia has displayed in dealing with Sri Lankan refugees is shown by the treatment of a Sri Lankan woman who was given asylum, had her children here and was a member of a local church and community. She has now been placed back in detention, despite the word of her Australian friends and neighbours that she is an exemplary and harmless citizen.
After the last World War, Australian governments ignored the real criminals from the last war, who lived out their lives in Australia, after committing war crimes under the Nazi regime.
No evidence that the Sri Lankan refugees come into this category has ever been produced, and these people do not know what they have been accused of or by whom. This is a travesty of justice.
Nobody should be imprisoned in a detention centre for up to four years when they have not been convicted of any crime. It is more likely that any real terrorists from Sri Lanka, like those in government, have enough money to pay their way and come by aeroplane.
All the refugees I have known in the past have been vulnerable people, who have lost family and friends in their own countries because of discrimination, torture, rape and war. I would willingly help any one of them in order to allow them to establish themselves in safety in Australia.
