Refugee Rights Action Network says no to "enhanced screening" at sea

July 24, 2015
Issue 
The Vietnamese refugee boat off the WA coast.

The Refugee Rights Action Network (RAAN) released this statement on July 23.
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Baby Y Nhu and four year olds Khoi and Chuong are among those on board the Vietnamese asylum seeker boat intercepted by WA Water Police off the coast of Western Australia on July 20.

At least eight children and about 30 adults are now being held by Border Force. They are on board a navy boat, possibly the HMAS Choules, which was used in April to hand back another group of asylum seekers from Vietnam.

Despite assurances by [immigration minister] Peter Dutton that no harm would come to these desperate people, RAAN members are aware of ongoing harassment and repeated interrogations of those returned in April. Children from that boat are now being refused access to education. We know of at least one man, who is still in jail, whose mother, who hadn't attempted to leave Vietnam, has been intimidated by police.

This same fate is what awaits the parents of little Khoi, Chuong and Y Nhu and all the other adults on board the "Dampier Boat". Border Force will interview them while they are being held at sea, following a journey of about two weeks crammed into a tiny boat. They will be surrounded by officials, many in uniform and some carrying weapons. This will be extremely intimidating.

Vietnamese officials are often corrupt and police and military personnel are instruments of government persecution. The asylum seekers will not trust them and will be unlikely to articulate their claims because they will be afraid the information will get back to Vietnamese authorities.

Australian Immigration will therefore "screen out" these desperate people and not allow them due process. This is called refoulement.

All of these actions are against the International Refugee Convention. Regardless of how much the Australian government plays with our laws around these issues, Australia is a signatory to this Convention and should honour it.

Rather than race the Coalition to the bottom of the dung heap, the ALP should be standing up for vulnerable people. Rather than chasing the xenophobic, racist and Islamophobic vote, both sides of politics should be changing the conversation about asylum seekers. They are not people to be feared, just human beings looking for a safe life.

Y Nhu, Khoi, Chuong and their families deserve to be given that chance.

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