9 November 2005
CAMPAIGN TO END TEMPORARY PROTECTION REGIME
During Refugee Week, Amnesty International launched a campaign against the Temporary Protection Visa system introduced by the Australian government in 1999.
Those issued with these visas are permitted to live in Australia and are entitled to a range of entitlements and benefits including work rights and access to Medicare etc. Criticism of the TPV system has focussed mainly on the issues of the right to family reunion and on the temporary nature of the visa which leaves an often already heavily traumatized person living in a state of uncertainty and anxiety that they may be returned to a situation of danger and persecution.
Many refugees are separated from their families for four or five years, first in mandatory detention and then when they are granted a TPV. Husbands are separated from their wives, children from their parents. Women and children are left stranded in camps overseas where their human rights are threatened.
If they attempt to leave the country, the Australian government will cancel their visa. It doesn't matter why they are leaving, even if they are looking for lost children or visiting sick parents, they cannot return and therefore they lose their protection in Australia. The personal stories of some TPV holders can be found on the above website.
It seems somewhat ironic that whilst the current situation prevails the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (described by some commentators as the ‘department for the others’) has embarked on an internal education campaign for its employees around the theme 'People – Our Business'
Those issued with these visas are permitted to live in Australia and are entitled to a range of entitlements and benefits including work rights and access to Medicare etc. Criticism of the TPV system has focussed mainly on the issues of the right to family reunion and on the temporary nature of the visa which leaves an often already heavily traumatized person living in a state of uncertainty and anxiety that they may be returned to a situation of danger and persecution.
Many refugees are separated from their families for four or five years, first in mandatory detention and then when they are granted a TPV. Husbands are separated from their wives, children from their parents. Women and children are left stranded in camps overseas where their human rights are threatened.
If they attempt to leave the country, the Australian government will cancel their visa. It doesn't matter why they are leaving, even if they are looking for lost children or visiting sick parents, they cannot return and therefore they lose their protection in Australia. The personal stories of some TPV holders can be found on the above website.
It seems somewhat ironic that whilst the current situation prevails the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (described by some commentators as the ‘department for the others’) has embarked on an internal education campaign for its employees around the theme 'People – Our Business'
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