By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A long-time Labor member and refugee advocate has urged his party to take a more compassionate stand.
Wicki Wickramasingham has backed the ALP’s pledge to abolish temporary protection visas for asylum seekers who arrive by boat.
But he says the Labor Party should go further – offering a “guarantee” of permanent protection as well as reuniting them with their overseas families.
However, the ALP are “afraid” of an attack from the Coalition Government that it would be opening the floodgates for more boat people, Mr Wickramasingham says.
“They’re not declaring what they’re going to do. If they’re not declaring it now, I don’t think it will happen.
“This is a good time for Labor to shift its border protection and immigration policies
“They will get more votes than the Liberals. Most of the people are waiting for this ‘guarantee’.”
He knows of TPV holders in the South East who have languished for as long as 16 years – including up to eight years in off-shore detention “torture camps” such as Nauru.
“They can’t plan a life or a future. Are they going to be accepted? What are they going to do?”
Worn down by lagging bureaucracy, they languish in poverty without proper food or shelter. To stay, they must reapply every three years while deprived of work rights, Medicare and Centrelink.
Some risk their lives to return to their homelands. Others were taking their own lives, Mr Wickramasingham says.
“Not only are asylum seekers having depression and worries here, but their immediate family (overseas) are also worried about their future.”
With a shortage of skilled labour, it made little sense to take a “hard line” against allowing asylum seekers to work.
Recent refugees from the Ukraine war and Afghanistan were also having a “hard time”, without work rights, he said.
