The United Nations refugee agency Monday said it was concerned by the at times “mean-spirited” debate about asylum-seekers in Australia, along with the country’s increasingly restrictive policies for those arriving by boat.
Australia has faced a record influx of asylum-seekers making the sea journey to its shores, with authorities unable to intercept all vessels and hundreds drowning en route in recent years.
The UNHCR’s regional representative Richard Towle said asylum-seekers arriving by boat presented “a humanitarian challenge” yet there was a “worrying erosion of public support for asylum in Australia”.
“UNHCR is concerned by a domestic asylum environment that involves an increasingly negative and, at times, mean spirited public debate on how to treat people arriving in this way,” he said in a statement.
“UNHCR understands the widespread concerns in Australia about border security, and the costs of managing the higher number of people arriving by boats, but it is imperative that these do not eclipse the fundamental legal and ethical principles on which the global system of asylum is founded.”
Towle noted that Australia had a generous official refugee programme but said at the same time there was an ever-widening range of deterrent measures proposed or in place to try to stop asylum-seekers from attempting to reach Australia by boat.
Canberra has attempted to crack down on people-smuggling by sending those arriving by boat on remote offshore territories to processing stations on the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru and impoverished Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island.
Yet the number of people attempting to reach Australia by boat has hit record levels, with the figure expected to top 25,000 in the 12 months to June 30.
The UNHCR has already taken Australia to task over a tough new policy that allows boat people who reach its mainland to be sent to remote Nauru or PNG as well.
“Seen as a whole, UNHCR is concerned that asylum in Australia is very much at a cross roads — whether to continue down the path of ever more restrictive and deterrence-based policies and practices — or, to redouble efforts that engage other countries in the region through meaningful cooperation and collaboration,” Towle said.
Asylum-seekers and border security are set to be key issues in the upcoming September 14 election, with conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott, whom polls are predicting will win power, has suggested turning back asylum-seeker boats.
The UN agency said governments needed to “look at the broader picture; to avoid simplistic explanations and populist reactions to what are complex and multi-dimensional issues”.
Myanmar, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are common source countries for asylum-seekers arriving in Australia via people-smuggling boats, mostly via Indonesia.
UN concerned by 'mean-spirited' Australia asylum debate
