AUSTRALIA’S treatment of asylum seekers is a point of shame for our nation, says the co-ordinator of Broome’s Office for Justice, Ecology and Peace, Christian Brother Shane Wood.
Br Wood was commenting after the Federal Government’s decision that a group of 53 Vietnamese people who arrived by boat in waters off Port Hedland in Western Australia on July 1 would be transferred to Christmas Island.
‘It is to our nation’s great shame that neither major political party has the moral courage to lead our people to a more compassionate response to the problem of displaced and fleeing people wanting to claim asylum in another country,’ he said.
‘There is currently no reasonable balance between our rights to sovereignty and border protection on the one hand and the obligations of respect for human rights on the other,’ he said.
Br Wood joined other social justice groups and refugee advocates in criticising Federal Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock for his actions over the Vietnamese group.-
In a press conference on July 4, Mr Ruddock said the question of where arrivals were processed was a matter determined by the department.
‘As long as people are available for processing within the jursidiction of Australia, and that includes Christmas Island, then our legal obligations are met.’
