Hello,
as you all know R4R meetings are postponed until it is safe to resume.
However we must not forget the very vulnerable members of our community. The refugees and people seeking asylum, whether in detention centres or community detention. Here is a message from the Refugee Council of Australia.
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Ensuring people seeking asylum and refugees are not forgotten in COVID-19 pandemic
As Australia and the world suffers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clearer than ever before that the welfare of all of us is directly connected to how we treat the most vulnerable. COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate on the basis of background, citizenship or visa status. If anyone is left destitute, homeless, with no access to affordable medical help or unable to minimise the risk of catching the virus, all of us are at greater risk.
With this in mind, the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) has been working with its members to ensure that the needs of people seeking asylum and refugees are not overlooked in efforts to improve community safety. On Monday, we hosted a special meeting of our national Asylum Policy Network and identified five actions which the Australian Government should immediately take to ensure that people seeking asylum are able to better protect themselves during this crisis. We have summarised the five action points below. Click the green button to read the full list and read the next article to find out how you can help.
- Move people urgently out of crowded immigration detention facilities
- People in crowded facilities, including detention centres and hotels being used as alternative places of detention (APOD) have been nominated by the Department of Health as some of those most at risk of serious infection in Australia. Overcrowding means that social distancing in these facilities is improbable, whilst a number of the people detained also fall into high-risk groups. RCOA and its members are calling for their imminent release into the community.
- Ensure a financial safety net and Medicare access for all in Australia
- Thousands of people in our communities who are seeking asylum - including families with children - do not have access to financial support or Medicare. Addressing this destitution is now more important than ever, given the serious risk to these people and the wider Australian community. Read our media release on this issue here.
- Simplify processes for visa grants and renewals
- People applying for Bridging Visas to be granted or renewed currently face either months-long delays or refusals without clear reasons. This means that people who have made every effort to engage in the process face being forced into an irregular status, with no rights or entitlements. Given the pandemic, further flexibility should be applied to deadline extensions and visa conditions (like access to Medicare and work rights). Further pressure on those fragile health systems could result in their falling apart, with serious consequences for the refugees and people seeking asylum in those countries, many of whom have already chronic illnesses and are immunocompromised.
- Move refugees and people seeking asylum from PNG and Nauru
- There have already been cases of COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea and a State of Emergency has been declared in both PNG and Nauru. Service providers working with refugees and people seeking asylum are worried about the capacity of health systems in those countries to respond to a potential pandemic. Further pressure on those fragile health systems could result in their falling apart, with serious consequences for the refugees and people seeking asylum in those countries, many of whom have already chronic illnesses and are immunocompromised.
- Explore permanency and family reunion for people moving to high-need regional areas
- In order for farming and other major production to continue, there needs to be quick and committed movement of people already in Australia to the regional and rural areas in need. People found to be refugees but granted only a Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) or a Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV) are among those who could fill some of these gaps, as many either currently reside in regional SHEV zones or intend to do so. If they were able to be granted a permanent visa and bring immediate family members to settle with them, it would not only address the urgent short-term needs of farmers and Australian production but also allow people to set down roots with their families in those communities long-term.
We need your help: take action now
The Australian Government has recognised the health, social and economic impacts of such a crisis on our society and responded. However, the measures taken so have so far forgotten refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia, who are significantly affected by the crisis. RCOA has taken fast action to consult with our member organisations and draw up the above priority list. We are now lobbying both privately and publicly to ask the government to enact these changes, which would protect thousands of people at risk and avoid serious risk to the wider community. However, we know from experience that our political leaders are more likely to act if they know that people in their electorate care about the issue, which is where you come in.
Please, click the button below to let your MP know that people seeking asylum and refugees should be considered in Australia's COVID-19 response. Then, share it with your friends and family and ask them to do the same. We've set up a simple tool so that it will only take you two minutes. The Government has already hinted that they may be willing to extend the measures, so we know that this is possible, but we need your help.
Image: Parliament House, Canberra. Wikimedia Commons
COVID-19: resources for refugees and people seeking asylum
A pandemic of this nature, unprecedented in our life-times, brings great uncertainty and fear for all of us, but especially the people most vulnerable in our society.
RCOA is collating resources from its members and elsewhere, to provide refugees, people seeking asylum and the organisations working with them with the most up to date information about this crisis and the help available. We are updating this regularly, so if you’re aware of any resources that you think would be useful for us to share, please send them to admin@refugeecouncil.org.au.
RCOA is regularly consulting with its members to understand how they and the people they work with are impacted by COVID-19. We are relaying these concerns and recommendations to the government. If you are part of a refugee-led organisation or organisation working directly with refugees and people seeking asylum and would like to be part of these consultations and online meetings, please email admin@refugeecouncil.org.au.
Opportunities
In My Own Words
Have a story to tell, but unsure how to take the first step? In My Own Words is a storytelling and capacity-building program designed to give young creatives of refugee backgrounds the skills they need to shape their story and have it heard on their terms. The program includes a series of workshops, collaborative sessions, and speaking panels with some of Australia’s leading writers, activists, and artists. Click the link above to find out more and apply. Please note that this program will now be hosted online in the light of COVID-19 developments.
Publications
Refugee Curriculum Package
Many of you who are teachers and parents may now be teaching online or at home. Check out this resource pack for teachers designed around a short story written by a teacher on Nauru. Click the link above to access the story and materials to base a lesson around it.
Media
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Refugee Council of Australia · Australia · ABN: 87 956 673 083
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