CATHOLICS have been called on to reject alarmist claims of massive refugee influxes in the wake of the recent explosion aboard a boat full of asylum-seekers near Ashmore Reef off the Western Australian coast.
Brisbane archdiocesan director of the Centre for Multicultural Pastoral Care (CMPC) Clyde Cosentino told The Catholic Leader that the latest statements in the media from politicians and other commentators reminded him of “the bad old days of the TPV (Temporary Protection Visa)”.
Mr Cosentino’s observation was similar to others made by Church spokespeople around Australia.
Edmund Rice Centre spokesman Fr Claude Mostowik said the term “border protection” was “too often used as a weapon against extremely vulnerable people escaping life threatening situations”.
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) delegate for immigration issues Bishop Joseph Grech said relevant parties needed to sit down and examine “whether what we are doing as a nation … is the best thing for the welfare of people who find themselves in such dire situations”.
However, chaplain to refugees at the Christmas Island immigration detention centre Monsignor John Murphy who visited the centre over Easter noted that the treatment of refugees in such areas as claim assessment was much better under the current Federal Government than before.
Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC) executive officer Peter Arndt urged Catholics to put a priority on the human dignity of those recently seeking asylum in Australia.
Their comments followed political uproar after an explosion aboard a boat carrying 47 mostly Afghan asylum seekers and two Indonesian crew members on April 16.
The boat exploded two nautical miles from Ashmore Reef killing five people and leaving dozens injured.
Mr Cosentino called on Catholics to be rational and level-headed; to beware of misinformation in what they heard and saw in the media and to remember that Australia had successfully absorbed many refugees and asylum seekers in the past.
He said another aspect to the tragedy of these recent events was that “politics was raising its ugly head again in the treatment of refugees”.
“Few would question the need for border protection,” he said.
“However, it saddens and angers me to see this issue that affects such vulnerable people used for political advantage.
“The old fears are being played on once more … The danger is that public opinion will again be inflamed against these people.
“The focus may seem to be on people smugglers but in the end the real victims are those seeking asylum.”
