These working people from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine have been transported under protest to the Pacific nation of Nauru, or are in the process of being shipped there, by the Australian navy. Draconian new laws have been rushed through the federal Parliament, with the support of the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP), to back up this harsh policy.

On October 1 Australian troops were used to forcibly remove a group of asylum seekers from on board the Australian naval supply ship the HMAS Manoora and place them in an internment camp built by the Australian government in the barren interior of Nauru.

This followed a tense 10-day standoff in which the 224 refugees, who had been picked up by the Manoora from the Aceng on September 7 after it had run aground on Ashmore Reef, an Australian territory north of Darwin, had refused to disembark, demanding to be taken to Australia. The last of the asylum seekers were transferred to Nauru on October 4.

With arrogant disregard for the Nauru government, which had stated that it would not accept the use of force to remove the refugees from the boat, Australian defense minister Peter Reith declared that he did not "have a problem about using force if absolutely necessary." Prime Minister John Howard stated, "I should make it quite clear that the people on the Manoora will be going to Nauru--they will not come to the Australian mainland or Australian territory."

A second Navy ship, the HMAS Tobruk, which is carrying 262 asylum-seekers detained in recent weeks when their boats were intercepted near Ashmore Reef, is due to arrive in Nauru in mid-October. This will bring the numbers in detention in Nauru to more than 700.

The dramatic deployment of Australian military forces against these groups of Asian working people seeking refuge, and the stepped-up presence of warships in the waters to the north of Australia, have become intertwined with Canberra's preparations to participate in the U.S.-led war against Afghanistan.

Defense Minister Peter Reith has alleged that refugees arriving in Australia without papers include potential terrorists.

The ALP has been calling for the establishment of a permanent Coast Guard to free up the Australian navy from patrols against "boat people." The Opposition's defense spokesman, Steve Martin, declared on September 28 that "Australia's resources continue to be used despite the tense international situation and the possible need for the ship elsewhere."

The new anti-refugee laws enacted September 30 allow boats to be towed out of Australian territorial waters by the Australian navy, including the use of "reasonable and necessary force." Mandatory sentences for "people smugglers" have been introduced. The Australian territories of Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Ashmore and Cartier Reefs have been excluded from Australia's "migration zone," allowing asylum seekers to be processed in these remote territories without the rights that come with landing on Australian territory. Refugees accepted into Australia after being processed in these territories will not be permitted to apply for permanent residency after their three-year protection visa runs out. The definition of the term "refugee" has been tightened to make it harder to gain temporary "protection visas," allowing the minister to make "adverse inferences" against people arriving without documentation.

Another measure bans asylum seekers from taking part in class action court cases against the government in a bid to remain in Australia. The government has also threatened to sue for costs against the civil rights lawyers who took a federal court case against the government for its actions against the people rescued by the Tampa.

The government has not pushed through its actions against refugees without protest. On September 23 over 400 people rallied outside the Villawood detention center in Sydney. The previous day tear gas and water cannons were used by police against refugees staging a protest inside the remote Woomera detention center in South Australia.

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock accused the Refugee Action Collective, which had organized a simultaneous protest near the center, of causing a riot. Activists from the Collective said the incident was provoked by guards.

Linda Harris is a member of the Australasian Meat Industry Employees' Union  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home