TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - On Tuesday, Australia rebuffed United Nations (UN) criticism regarding its stance on asylum seekers that leads to a series of human rights violations, saying the situation is far worse in Syria and Iraq, according to an AFP report.
UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Zeid al-Hussein used his inauguration speech on Monday, to criticize Australia’s off-shore asylum processing facilities, its behavior towards asylum seekers, as its’ official policy of sending the boats back.
He said that such attitudes have lead to a series of human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest, and asylum seekers face the possibility of torture once they are sent to their countries of origin.
“It could also lead to the establishment of inadequate squats where immigrants settle to live in third countries,” said the Jordanian prince in front of the UN's Human Rights Commission in Geneva.
Zeid also criticized the Cypriot and American approach to immigrant childrens, and said that arresting asylum seekers should be left as a last-resort only to be used in extraordinary circumstances, for as brief and appropriate custodial purposes.
According to Canberra’s hardline immigration policies, ‘boat people’ who had arrived in Australia since July 2013 -- including children -- will be relocated to camps on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, and Nauru. They will be allowed to remain on the islands if their asylum application is approved.
Australia is constantly working to stem the inflow of asylum seekers, even through military-led efforts to return the incoming boats onto the open waters of a third country -- such as Indonesia, which is criss-crossed by a number of extremely busy waterways.
Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Scott Morrison has rejected the accusations and said that he would be pleased to meet and discuss the issue as he has so often does with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“The grossest violation of human rights that I am aware of is the beheading and crucifixions of civilians in Syria and Iraq, where Australia is actively participating to help ease the humanitarian conflict,” added Morrison.
Daniel Webb, from the Melbourne-based Human Rights Law Centre, welcomed Zeid’s criticism and said that the comment shows that the global community is watching and is committed to stopping Australia’s human rights violations.
“All that the cruel and illegal government policies have achieved is to deny vulnerable people who lack options one more option, and to defile Australia's international standing in the process," he said.
Morrison has previously claimed that his asylum seeker policies of his party has succeeded in bringing the number of deaths in the open waters, by stopping them from every reaching Australian soil.
Only one asylum seeker boat has reached Australia’s mainland since December. Previously, boats came on a daily basis and hundreds die during the voyage.
ANTARA | HEPPY RATNA