An open letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, said to be written and signed by the 600 men incarcerated on Manus Island, was released today, 30 November 2015. The letter is short. It acknowledges the hopeless situation of the men detained indefinitely by the Government. It acknowledges the necessity of the men’s detention to the Coalition’s cruel ‘stop the boats’ policy. It also asserts that the boats have stopped and therefore the men are no longer of use to the Australian Government. The men claim their job is done, and trapped on the island prison, without any possible end to their torture, they have presented Turnbull and Dutton with three possible solutions to end the inhumanity, the obscene waste of public money, and the ruination of Australia’s international reputation.
The men have requested to die.
“This is not a joke or a satire” the men say.
The options provided by the men appear harsh, but in the minds of the prisoners, incarcerated on the whim of the Rudd, Gillard, Abbott and Turnbull Governments, the options are a better alternative to dying gradually on Manus Island and where “every single day” they are “literarly (sic) tortured and traumatized.”
The letter is not framed by the men as yet another plea for help, or a request for fairness, a safe-haven or safety – the men have acknowledged that their requests to be freed continue to go unanswered. The letter is a statement of truth, of fact, of recognition of the abhorrent situation the men who have fled persecution, war and genocide now face at the hands of successive Australian Governments, and funded by the taxpayer.
So what are Turnbull and Dutton waiting for?
It is clear the current situation is unsustainable. Offshore detention currently costs over $1 billion a year, more than five times the United Nations refugee agency’s entire budget for South East Asia.
The indefinite detention of asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island, Nauru and Christmas Island has been repeatedly criticised. The United Nations has found that the offshore detention regime and the conditions that people seeking asylum and refugees are held in, amount to torture. In the past week, the United Nations chief, Ban Ki-moon personally asked Turnbull to review the boat turn back policy and raised concerns again about the conditions in offshore detention centres. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Francois Crepeau, cancelled his Australian visit because the Government refused to guarantee that professionals and staff would not be prosecuted and face 2 years in prison, under the secrecy provisions of the Border Force Act, for simply speaking with him.
Asylum seekers and refugees have been murdered, pushed to suicide, and died from medical neglect while being held indefinitely under cruel, inhumane and torturous conditions as a deterrent to people smugglers.
The Turnbull Government claims the boats have stopped. If this is so, then the men on Manus Island are correct to say they are no longer needed – unless Turnbull and Dutton intend on holding them hostage forever just in case the slightest show of humanity leads to resurgence in on-water arrivals. However, the boats have not stopped departing Indonesia, they have simply been prevented from landing. It is clear therefore, that despite the harsh conditions the men on Manus Island (and men, women and children on Nauru and Christmas Island) are held in, that people will continue to seek asylum in Australia – as is their right under the Refugee Convention signed and ratified by Australia.
Still, Turnbull and Dutton are unphased by international obligations and humanitarian responsibility. Repeated and relentless criticism has simply hardened their resolve to further punish those detained in the island prison hellholes.
So what exactly are Turnbull and Dutton waiting for?
Are they intending to hold each and every man, woman and child in detention until they die? Are they hoping another riot will break out and a few more innocent men will be murdered? Are they hoping that a few more men will be taken out by preventable and treatable infections and illness? Are they hoping that if they treat the men cruelly enough, more will commit suicide, thus saving the Government money and negating the need to process any claims? Do they hope a couple of pregnant women will die in childbirth, or at the very least, their babies die, thus saving the Government the issue of what to do with their prisoners?
According to Dutton, it would be irresponsible to take steps that might see a resurgence in people arriving in Australian waters. In October, in response to the Royal Children’s Hospital refusing to discharge a mother and child to detention, he said, “The Defence and Border Force staff on our vessels who were pulling dead kids out of the water don’t want the boats to restart.”
Is this the worst case scenario for Dutton?
If so, what are Turnbull and Dutton waiting for?
If the refugees and asylum seekers are not going to be freed, if the men, women and children held indefinitely in detention are doomed to stay there, until they are murdered, pushed to suicide, or die prematurely through medical neglect, why not opt for a kinder option?
The men on Manus Island propose the following:
- A navy ship that can put us all on board and dump us all in the ocean. (HMAS is always available)
- A gas chamber (DECMIL will do it with a new contract)
- Injection of a poison. (IHMS will help for this)
The response, if any is given at all, is predicable. “Dumping at sea? A gas chamber? Injection of poison? But that is unconscionable. First world, democratic nations don’t commit atrocities against innocent people. That would be akin to genocide, a war crime, an abhorrent act of terror. Australia will not be blackmailed by these people. We stand by our commitment to keep our borders safe and to stop the boats.”
More likely, there will be no comment at all, and Turnbull and Dutton, supported by Shorten, will leave the men, women and children to suffer indefinitely. The Government will ignore the men’s pleas and continue to support a slow, painful death for those housed in Australia’s concentration camps. There will be no festive cheer or hope for the future. Merry Christmas from Australia.
What a tragic state of affairs and how shameful for Australia as a nation.
The full transcribed text of the letter is below:
Hello Dear Mr Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Dutton.
As the refugees and asylum seekers trapped in Manus Island detention we wold like to request you something different this time.
As previously we wrote and asked for help and there was no respond to our request to be freed out of detention we realized that there are no differences between us and rubbish but a bunch of slaves that helped to stop the boats by living in hellish condition. The only difference is that we are very costly for the Australian tax payers and the Politicians as our job to “stop the boats” is done.
We would like to give you some recommendations to stop the waste of this huge amount of money ruining Australian’s reputation and to keep the Australian boarders safe forever.
- A navy ship that can put us all on board and dump us all in the ocean. (HMAS is always available)
2. A gas chamber (DECMIL will do it with a new contract)
3. Injection of a poison. (IHMS will help for this)
This is not a joke or a satire and please take it serious.
We are dying in Manus gradually, every single day we are literarly tortured and traumatized and there is no safe country to offer us protection as DIBP says.
Best regards
Merry Christmas in advance
Manus refugees and asylum seekers.
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