AUSTRALIA – An Australian lawyer is rejecting a suggestion his government’s policy of offshore processing of asylum seekers who arrive by boat is a model for other countries to follow.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton have been touting their border protection policy as world-standard.

“Australia’s immigration policies have focussed on finding a balance between population growth, nation-building and economic needs, while sharing the responsibility for resettling the most vulnerable refugees,” Dutton said.

“The Australian story demonstrates how societies can benefit from safe, orderly and well-managed migration.”

A lawyer who has represented refugees, Eric Vardalis, said that Canberra is continuing to allow the mistreatment of almost 2000 refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island for no good reason.

He said that offshore processing was taking a huge toll on those held on Nauru and Manus, the vast majority of whom were genuine refugees and should be accorded proper protections.

“They are spending billions of dollars on Nauru and Manus. And why? There’s no need for these people to be there. We spend $4 billion on refugees on Manus and Nauru. That money could build hospitals, roads, schools, social services.”

According to Vardalis, the ignorance of Australia’s public about the people held for offshore processing was fuelling the government’s harsh migration policies.

“And the government feeds off it. The government encourages it. We’ve had our attorney-general come out and say it’s okay to be a bigot. We’ve got Pauline Hanson saying, ‘I hate Muslims, I don’t want Muslims here’.

“You know they seem to think refugee equals terrorist, muslim equals terrorist; if you’re not a white anglo-saxon protestant, you’re a terrorist. And the public love it.”

Dutton reiterated that none of asylum seekers it transferred to Nauru and Manus Island for processing would be resettled in Australia.

The government has credited its policy for a drop-off in arrivals of so-called “boat people – Vardalis said the majority of Australia’s public supported this policy.

The lawyer pointed out that the almost 2000 refugees and asylum seekers held on Nauru and Manus were suffering in what was effectively a jail, having fled persecution and conflict zones.

“They’re in jail for doing nothing wrong. They’ve got no idea why they’re there. They can’t go back to their home countries or they’ll be killed. They’re not safe to go back where they came from.

“And you’ve got a government and an opposition that says, ‘no, you’re never going to come to Australia, and nowhere else’. Who is going to take them?

“The government are just pandering to the Australian public.

“They shouldn’t be exacerbating the racist problem. They should be saying to people, look these are genuine refugees. And it’s ignorance – no one’s ever met one, no one’s ever met a refugee. They – Australians – think refugees are all terrorists, every one of them, even the kids.”

New Zealand’s Labour Party says Australia is trying to “pass the buck” by suggesting New Zealand should have separate talks with Nauru to resettle the refugees being held there.

In 2013, New Zealand offered to take 150 refugees a year from Australia’s offshore detention camps, an offer that was still on the table but had not been taken up.

But Labour Party immigration spokesperson Iain Lees-Galloway said any discussion about settling refugees from Nauru must include Australia.

“Australia is passing the buck. These people are their responsibility, and they actually need to take responsibility for their treatment of refugees,” he said.

Detention centres were an inhuman approach to deal with refugees and should be closed, Lees-Galloway said.

Minister of Immigration Michael Woodhouse said the New Zealand government was not considering entering into a separate settlement arrangement directly with Nauru.

“Our offer was made to Australia to take 150 off shore detainees, who have been approved as refugees,” he said.

- RNZI