Government is setting asylum seekers up for failure
NO SURPRISES to see Geoff Cass cheering on Peter Dutton's pronouncement that asylum seekers whose claims haven't been lodged by October 1 will be deported.
NO SURPRISES to see the likes of Geoff Cass (Daily, May 25) cheering on Peter Dutton's latest pronouncement that asylum seekers whose protection claims haven't been lodged by October 1 will be deported.
According to Cass, they're "illegal entrants" anyway. They've entered our "house" without permission and taken "all the free bedrooms".
As Cass well knows, asylum seekers are not 'illegal'. International law clearly enshrines everyone's right to seek asylum in whatever manner they can.
Australia is the one acting illegally; our current policies are in shameful breach of this law.
Asylum seekers are not entering our 'house' without permission. They're knocking on our door in desperation and asking for our help.
And, despite being more than capable of offering them protection, we're shutting the door in their face and telling them to look elsewhere.
Despite being banned from doing so from 2012 to 2015, the majority of asylum seekers have lodged their claims. And of the 7000 who haven't, many only received their invite to do so at the end of 2016.
They're patiently waiting in long queues for pro-bono assistance to complete lengthy and complex forms and detailed written statements.
The government is deliberately setting asylum seekers up to fail, so it can deport them and conveniently shift the blame for their own ineptness.
People like Geoff Cass might be applauding, but most Australians, once they're aware, are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the deception and cruelty being practised in their name.
BRONWYN BELL
Tanawha
