By Cam Lucadou-Wells
The Federal Government’s recently-expressed compassion for Hong Kong refugees should be extended to asylum seekers struggling without work and income, Greater Dandenong mayor Jim Memeti says.
“I welcome the Federal Government’s help for people from Hong Kong.
“And they should do the same for people here as well.”
On 8 July, Cr Memeti and 36 other Australian mayors sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison seeking Covid-19 support payments for asylum seekers – of which about 2000 live in Greater Dandenong.
They also called for Medicare access and the renewal of temporary visas before expiry.
Despite being “uniquely vulnerable”, asylum seekers have been excluded from JobKeeper and JobSeeker support during the pandemic.
They have been left “destitute with zero income to survive on,” the letter stated.
“Without an adequate safety-net in place, it is not possible for people to protect themselves from infection and self-isolate themselves.
“To prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the Government needs to ensure basic support to all members of the community facing destitution, as we are all in this together.”
The Federal Government’s stated position on income support during Covid-19 has been to look after its country’s citizens first. It urged temporary visa holders to return to their countries of origin.
Cr Memeti chairs the nationwide Mayoral Taskforce for People Seeking Asylum, which was established by Greater Dandenong in 2018.
He said in many cases, asylum seekers faced harm if they returned to their homelands.
During Covid-19, it was nearly impossible to catch a plane to return home even if people wanted to.
Cr Memeti said that the council, volunteers and charities were “doing our bit” with material aid for asylum seekers in need.
“A lot of people are donating food. But you still have to pay your rent, your electricity, your gas.
“Without getting any money, it gets impossible to keep on living. Where else are they going to get money from?
“The community has been so generous but the people helping are probably under pressure with their jobs and finances too.”
Cr Matthew Kirwan, who has been closely involved with the taskforce and its Back Your Neighbour campaign, said demand was growing as Melbourne went into a second pandemic lockdown.
“A lot of casual jobs that asylum seekers lost in the first wave of Covid-19, such as cafe work, haven’t been recovered.”
He said a surge in unemployment was expected before Christmas.
Out of concern about Hong Kong’s new security laws, the Australian Government extended temporary visas for Hong Kong asylum seekers to five years.
It also suspended its extradition agreement with Hong Kong.
This was due to concerns about new national security laws imposed in Hong Kong, Mr Morrison said.
