Refugees in Nauru ask Turnbull to act on NZ resettlement offer
Refugees in Nauru have written to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, asking him to “act now and put us out of this misery. Please talk to the New Zealand government and allow them to take us.”
Earlier this month they wrote to New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse, asking New Zealand to resettle them.
In the letter to Prime Minister Turnbull, the refugees write: “Now we are turning to you because it is said that we cannot go to New Zealand because your government scrapped the deal. When you became Prime Minister, you also said you were concerned for us. We do not believe you are concerned when our children are assaulted or our women raped, because if you were then you would have acted.”
The letter continues: “We understand that some Australians believe that we would still want to come to Australia if we went to New Zealand. But we can assure you this is not the case. If we were settled in a country like New Zealand, which respects human rights and allowed us to build a future there, why would we want to uproot ourselves again to come to Australia.
“Many of us do not believe that Australia respects human rights anymore. Australia does not even respect the rights of your own Aboriginal people. The Australian government has ignored the UN reports and recommendations and its own Human Rights Commission. We have been treated badly by the Australians who have been sent to work here. We have been treated with cruelty and contempt. We have been brutalised and scarred. Our rights have been denied by Gillard, Rudd, Abbott, Burke, Morrison and Dutton. We have suffered unimaginable cruelty and lost any hope. Some of us with travel papers have been denied medical treatment and all of us are suffering from poor mental health from the stress and pressure of not having a future.”
“There is no future on Nauru or Cambodia or our home countries. We are refugees. We need a country where we can be safe and have [a] future. A country which respects our rights. And a country where we can settle without fear of being sent back to danger.”
The letter concludes: “So we ask the Australian government to talk to New Zealand about this matter. Because they can offer us something that Australian politicians choose not to give. If you are different to Tony Abbott, if you are actually concerned, we ask that you talk to Mr John Key and organise New Zealand to take us.”
Below is the letter from refugees in Nauru:
Earlier this month, Guardian Australia reported that in response to the refugees’ letter to Mr Key and Mr Woodhouse, Mr Woodhouse said: “It is for Australia to take up the offer to utilise the up to 150 places and to date they have not done so. As such, the places are reallocated to the annual quota and most recently the places were given to Syrian refugees.”
ABC News and Guardian Australia reports on the refugees’ letter to Mr Turnbull.
UPDATE — 1 April
Today I finally received a reply to the email I sent to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on 19 January. I emailed Mr Turnbull the letter from the refugees in Nauru.
The reply I received today was from David Ness, Assistant Secretary Pacific and Transnational Issues Branch in the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, on behalf of Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.
Mr Ness’ reply is disgraceful. He referred to New Zealand’s resettlement offer as a “marketing opportunity” for people smugglers and an “incentive to restart their illegal trade.”
Mr Ness referred to asylum seekers as “potential illegal immigrants”. This is vile and incorrect. It is not illegal to seek asylum.
Mr Ness said refugees are able to permanently settle in Cambodia. The Cambodia deal has been a complete failure. Three out of the five refugees who were transferred from Nauru to Cambodia have since returned to their country of origin.
Mr Ness said “the Government has increased the refugee programme from the current level of 13,750 places up to 18,750 over the next three years” but he failed to disclose that the government cut it from 20,000 places to 13,750 places.
Mr Ness also failed to address what the refugees’ wrote about their children being assaulted, women being raped, and the poor mental health of the refugees in Nauru.
Cutting through all the bullshit in the letter, the government is happy to punish innocent people rather than accept New Zealand’s resettlement offer.
