Australia is hostile and contemptuous to asylum seekers, says UN rights chief
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Version 0 of 1. The United Nations high commissioner for human rights has lashed out at Australia over the “poor benchmark” it is setting in asylum seeker policies, describing its approach as hostile and contemptuous. In an address to the human rights council in Geneva on Monday, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said turning back asylum seeker vessels at sea and detaining asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island were bewildering policies. Related: Paying people smugglers: at what point is it unacceptable to say nothing about the claims? The comments come amid the growing controversy surrounding claims that Australian officials paid people smugglers to turn back an asylum seeker vessel at sea in May. The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has refused to rule out whether such an operation had occurred, but said the government was “prepared to do what is necessary” to prevent asylum seeker boats arriving in Australia. Labor and the Greens have been placing increasing pressure on the government to respond to the claims. The Indonesian vice-president has warned that if Australia “bribed” people smugglers they could be considered a party to trafficking. Al Hussein told the UN: “Australia’s response to migrant arrivals has set a poor benchmark for its regional neighbours. The authorities have also engaged in turn-arounds and pushbacks of boats in international waters. “Asylum seekers are incarcerated in centres in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, where they face conditions that the special rapporteur on torture has reported as amounting to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. “Such policies should not be considered a model by any country. Given that most of today’s Australians themselves descend from migrants – and given that the country maintains sizeable regular programs for migration and resettlement – I am bewildered by the hostility and contempt for these women, men and children that is so widespread among the country’s politicians.” The claims that people smugglers were paid in a turnback operation have also raised concerns that the government may have broken Australia’s own laws surrounding people smuggling, according to senior lawyers. |