The Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network (DASSAN) released the statement below on September 11.
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The Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network (DASSAN) has condemned Minister Chris Bowen’s announcement that asylum seekers will be moved to Nauru from the end of this week.
DASSAN spokesperson Peter Robson said: “We have serious concerns that minister Bowen is rushing forward with this plan with so many questions unanswered. Regardless of the state of the facilities on Nauru, this policy is bound to damage people who are already among the most vulnerable on the planet — including children.
“But to be rushing this through before adequate accommodation and healthcare facilities are constructed is a brutal reminder that the federal Labor government is more than willing to return us to the dark days of Howard.”
Questions DASSAN would like answers to include:
• What oversight and monitoring of the offshore processing facilities will the government guarantee to ensure asylum seekers, far away from public access, will be treated humanely? Will the government consider the Greens’ proposal for an independent expert panel that would report six-monthly to parliament?
• Will there be a limit on how long people will languish in offshore processing centres?
• What experience does Transfield Services, the global construction company contracted to run the Nauru facility, have in caring for traumatised people?
Robson said: “In recent days, we have had contact with asylum seekers in Darwin detention centres who are absolutely distraught and terrified at the thought of going to Nauru.
“This policy won’t deter people considering risking a journey by boat: we’ve already seen, since the policy was adopted, more and more boats arriving. Already more people have arrived by boat than can be accommodated at Nauru and Manus Island.
People are willing to risk their lives on boats to escape the unbearable situations they flee; the new policy won’t stop that. What it will do is seriously damage innocent, traumatised people, leaving them unable to ever lead healthy and productive lives.
“We know this is the case because we saw the effects of the Howard government’s ‘Pacific Solution’. That is why such large sections of the community successfully demanded an end to that cruel policy, and that is why DASSAN won’t rest as long as there are asylum seekers who face being held indefinitely at Nauru and Manus Island.”