Letter to Senator Bob Brown - Now Released to the Media  29 July 2010

Re: A regional solution to the Asylum Seekers issue

Hon Senator Bob Brown

Leader of the Australian Greens

GPO Box 404

Hobart TAS 7001

Dear Senator Brown

Re: A regional solution to the Asylum Seekers issue

The Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA), the umbrella body of the peak Tamil organizations in Australia and New Zealand would like to bring to your attention our deep concerns over the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal-National Coalition using the asylum seekers issue for their electoral gains at the forthcoming election. AFTA time and again had appealed to both parties to take a bi-partisan approach on this very sensitive matter.

Since the Australian Greens have always taken a principled and humanitarian approach to this issue, we seek your help to inform the Australian public of the true nature of this problem addressing the;

• humanitarian plight and the desperate state of the ‘boat people’,
• need to remove the root causes,
• arrival of more asylum seekers by air than sea and
• the wider global and regional context including Australia’s obligations under the refugee convention.

As you are well aware, the “Boat People” issue was brought into electoral politics by the former Prime Minister John Howard using the Tampa crisis to win votes in the parliamentary elections.  Since then both sides of politics have been trying hard to keep this issue as a burning issue in this country.

Howard government introduced the “Off-Shore Processing” (OSP), and “Temporary Protection Visa” (TPV), the “Pacific Solution”, and won an election essentially on this issue.  Rudd government came into power promising to abolish the “Pacific Solution” and kept the promise and introduced Permanent Protection Visa and opened up the Christmas Island Processing Centre. 

Whether it was the “Pull Factor” or “Push Factor” that was responsible, which is debatable, boat people started to flood our waters and the “People Smugglers” are still feasting on the desperation of these victims of war.  When the opposition used this opportunity to attack the Rudd government’s policy, sighting the increased boat arrivals, instead of trying to use a humanitarian and bi-partisan approach, Rudd government panicked and started to defend its policy.

This has once again paved the way for a serious issue such as this to become an

election issue, parading as who is strong on “Border Protection’’. Protecting the borders from whom?  Protecting from the innocent refugees or people smugglers?

Well before the federal election was announced, anticipating the potential for this issue to become a hot election issue, AFTA proposed in a DFAT - Tamil Diaspora Forum, held in Canberra on 22.04.10 and chaired by Mr David Holly the Assistant Secretary, South and West Asia Branch, that only a regional approach could solve this problem. A regional solution, similar to the one previously used by our regional neighbors to handle the Indo Chinese boat people. Assistant Director General, North and South Asia Section of the Australian Agency for International Development and a senior official from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship at a similar level also were assisting Mr Holly at this forum. A copy of the presentation is attached for your information.

When Julia Gillard became the Prime Minister and announced a “Regional Solution”, initially we thought that she had embraced a genuine regional approach. But soon to our disappointment her “East Timor Regional Solution” resembled John Howard’s “Pacific Solution”. Under both schemes the asylum seekers are kept under detention off-shore and the only difference in the Gillard proposal would be, the issue of permanent protection visas to the persons found to be genuine refugees instead of the temporary protection visas issued under the previous “Pacific Solution”.

Dear Senator, as you very well know, in 2009 the asylum seekers handled between Australia and New Zealand constitute less than 2% (6500 out of 377,200) of the world asylum seeker population. If this number is a burden on Australia, we should consider sharing the refugees with other willing nations in the region or beyond. But a more effective approach would be to stem the flow at source. For example, if Australia can collectively with other democratic nations use diplomatic means to restore democracy, rule of law and normalcy and help find a political solution to the legitimate grievances of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, the Tamils will stop fleeing to Malaysia from where they seem to take off in leaky boats to Australia via Indonesia.

Concept of Regional Processing Centres

When the Indo-Chinese boats started to arrive in the region by early 1979 it became apparent that Malaysia (the main first asylum country), having taken a heavy burden upon itself, allowed asylum seekers to flee in boats to the neighbouring countries. Indonesia’s then Foreign Minister Mochtar Kusumaatmadja proposed a safer alternative in the form of a “Regional Processing Centre” (RPC).  The basic idea of RPC was to relieve the burdens of overcrowded first asylum countries by removing some of their refugee population to another site in the region where UNHCR could complete their processing for permanent resettlement in a third country. 

After Indonesia and Philippines made their commitments in an ASEAN ministerial meeting in Bali in August 1980, UNHCR had a RPC operating on the Indonesian island of Galang in the Riau Archipelago at a cost of $7 million. “Philippine Refugee Processing Centre” in Morong Bataan was also established at the same time by UNHCR.  Both these UNHCR processing centres processed more than 395,000 Indo Chinese refugees and resettled in countries like USA, Canada, France and Australia over a period of 14 years.  Out of the more than 90,000 Indo-Chinese refugees resettled in Australia more than 36,000 came out of these two camps.

If Australia feels, as it is being portrayed in the election campaign, that it is facing the same situation as Malaysia faced in 1970s, the best way to handle this problem is to establish a real “Regional Processing Centre” similar to the Galang one or Morong Bataan one, and resettle the eligible refugees in the same countries where Indo-Chinese refugees were resettled. 

This is not an issue to be discussed at the Pacific Islands Forum as our Foreign Minister has suggested lately, as it is not a problem of the Pacific region but it is a problem for the Asia - Pacific region. The only country affected in the Pacific Region is Australia.  The Source countries – Sri Lanka & Afghanistan, Country of First Asylum – Malaysia, Transit countries – Indonesia and Thailand, Target country of arrival – Australia and the countries of resettlement – USA, Canada, France, UK, Australia and New Zealand have to be involved in making a decision to establish such a RPC.  Since all these countries are part of the Bali Process, it is the most suitable forum to take up this issue.  To take a humanitarian approach like this to solve this problem, we need bipartisan support from both sides of politics in Australia. 

What can the Australian Greens do?

AFTA strongly feels that, the Australian Greens who have the potential to hold the balance of power in the next parliament, should inform the Australian public of the issues raised above and announce that it would advocate for Australia’s genuine effort to end the political crisis in the source countries to stem the flow at source and to take a well coordinated regional approach to process the claims of the asylum seekers fleeing in the meantime.

This approach from the Australian Greens in our view will help effectively remove the asylum seeker issue from the election agenda of both the ALP and the Liberal-National Coalition parties.

We eagerly await your response to this request and any possible swift action on this.

Yours truly,

Dr. Victor Rajakulendran

Secretary

Mob: 0402 484 209

29.07.2010

CC:

• Hon Stephen Smith MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade

• Hon Julie Bishop MP, Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs

• Hon Senator Chris Evans, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship

•  Hon Scot Morrison MP, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship

Media Enquiries:
Sydney: Dr. Victor Rajakulendran 0402 484 209
Melbourne: Mr. Siva Sivakumar 0404 894 591
Queensland: Prof. Selva Selvanathan 0402 960 439
Auckland: Dr. Siva Vasanthan 021 023 51 007

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Web:   www.tamil.org.au

Media Release                                                     Wednesday, 19 May 2010

International Crisis Group Indicts Sri Lanka for War Crimes

In a report titled “War Crimes in Sri Lanka”,

http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/south-asia/sri-lanka/191-war-crimes-in-sri-lanka.aspx

released from its head quarters in Brussels on Monday May 17^th, ICG has said that evidence provides reasonable grounds to believe that the Sri Lankan security forces committed war crimes with top government and military leaders potentially responsible. ICG also has said that there is evidence of war crimes committed by the LTTE and its leaders as well, but most of them were killed and will never face justice. ICG has called for an international inquiry into alleged crimes on the grounds that there is no political will or capacity for genuine domestic investigations and because such domestic investigations would set a bad precedence to other governments adopting the Sri Lankan model of counter-insurgency in their own internal conflicts getting away with war crimes.  ICG has claimed that the group possesses credible evidence that is sufficient to warrant an independent international investigation of the intentional shelling of civilians, the intentional shelling of hospitals and the intentional shelling of humanitarian operations.

ICG has recommended that the Sri Lankan government should cooperate fully with international efforts to investigate alleged war crimes, including a UN-mandated international inquiry, guaranteeing free access to the conflict area and effective protection of witnesses and to provide ICRC with full access to all places of detention, including where LTTE suspects or surrendees are being held, and allow detained individuals full protections under international law.  ICG has also recommended to the UN and its member states to authorise an independent international inquiry into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka during the last year of the conflict with special mention made about Australia doing its share on this matter.

Sri Lanka prevents Tamils from holding remembrance and mother-nature prevents Colombo’s victory day celebrations

While AFTA welcomes recommendations made by the ICG, it is distressed to learn that Sri Lanka has been preparing for a week long celebrations with a “Victory Day” celebrations scheduled for Thursday, at Galle Face Colombo, whilst using its troops to prevent the first commemoration events of Mullivaaikkaal Massacre of May 2009, observed by Tamils in Jaffna last Sunday, in Nalloor and Jaffna town in the north.  Sri Lankan troops have chased away the public from observing a peaceful vigil and threatened to death the reporters covering the event.  Sri Lankan troops have ransacked a Tamil political party office and searched residences of senior Tamil parliamentarians.  However, even mother-nature could not bear Sri Lanka’s arrogance and the heavens opened over Colombo resulting in the postponement of the “Victory Day” celebrations.

AFTA calls on the international community in general and Australian and New Zealand governments in particular to heed to the recommendations of the ICG and the way the Sri Lankan government is mishandling the reconciliation process and take appropriate action through the United Nations, to help finding a lasting peace in Sri Lanka.

AFTA calls on all the free media to highlight these latest developments about war crimes in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan government’s mishandling of the reconciliation process to help the international community to positively intervene.

Media Enquiries:
Sydney: Dr. Victor Rajakulendran 0402 484 209
Melbourne: Mr. Siva Sivakumar 0404 894 591
Queensland: Prof. Selva Selvanathan 0402 960 439
Auckland: Dr. Siva Vasanthan 021 023 51 007