[Greens-Media] PM needs new direction on refugee policy with Indonesia

[Schultz-Byard, Noah (Sen S. Hanson-Young)]

MEDIA RELEASE

Friday, 5 July 2013

PM needs new direction on refugee policy with Indonesia

The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd should use his trip to Indonesia to usher in a new era of cooperation between the two nations on refugee policy, the Australian Greens have said.

"We need to see a new, humane approach from the government, not a repeat of the Howard-era cruelty," the Greens' immigration spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

"The Houston Report said that Australia needs to resettle 3,800 refugees out of Indonesia as a matter of urgency.

"An emergency intake of up to 10,000 people from Indonesia and the surrounding region would give refugees a much safer pathway to Australia than a journey on a leaky boat. This would also show that Australia is committed to helping Indonesia deal with the humanitarian crisis in our region and not just interested in pushing people away.

"Australia's relationship with Indonesia is one built on understanding and trust, but our self-centred approach to refugee policy in recent years has been at odds with that.

"It is also essential for Australia to abandon its ill-fated, expensive and ineffectual obsession with deterrence.

"The Labor Party's no advantage policy has been a spectacular failure. We know it and the government knows it, so let's get rid of it."


Media Contact: Noah Schultz-Byard 0427 604 760



NOAH SCHULTZ-BYARD  MEDIA ADVISER

OFFICE OF SENATOR SARAH HANSON-YOUNG
AUSTRALIAN GREENS SENATOR FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA
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