Edmund Rice Justice Bulletin

In Australia the campaign for a more just and humane policy towards asylum seekers and refugees has also achieved a significant victory. That victory has been achieved over a government that has won two elections based in part on being 'tough' on 'border protection'. It was also achieved without any support from a timid and ineffectual major opposition party and (initially at least) in the face of an uncritical media and a public that broadly supported the government’s position.

Again whilst many would point out that the changes modify rather than reform a fundamentally immoral policy that still needs to be overturned, the recently announced reversals in policy and practice, if implemented, represent a significant back down by the government. They also bring hope and relief from suffering for some of those people either still held in detention or living in uncertainty under the existing temporary protection visa regime.

For an initial analysis of the proposed changes and what they mean visit the website of Amnesty Australia