This weekend the country watched the Nadesalingam family return to Bilo. They saw Tharnica, a little girl born in this country who had spent four years in detention celebrate her fifth birthday. After four years this family of Tamil asylum seekers have gone home to the central Queensland town of Biloela. The love of a small town for this family tells a very clear story; that there is a place in this country for resettling refugees.
This was a powerful moment. But this is just one family. While it’s great to have a change of government, let’s not forget that Labor supports Operation Sovereign Borders – a policy the United Nations has declared does not save lives, but contributes to the deaths of refugees. Pushing back migrant boats has been called ‘a cruel and deadly practice’ that violates international law. It risks sending people back to the countries they have fled from, where they will face death, torture or persecution. It’s an ugly policy. We cannot let our government’s bad policy hide behind the face of five-year-old Tharnica and her family. Because behind that one good story, is the suffering of so many others.
How we treat refugees who arrive in boats has become a sign of strength in our political landscape. From the lies of the Howard government’s ‘children overboard’, to election day this year when it was announced that a boatload of asylum seekers were intercepted by Australian Border Force – making the world’s most vulnerable people into a political football. A football we continue to kick back into danger. You see, government knows what happens when Australians live with refugees: They form relationships. They become a loved part of the community. Even conservative communities change their views on refugee policy. That is the power of human relationships. Better to keep the lives and suffering of refugees abstract. You don’t want compassion getting in the way of politics.
The boat that arrived in Australian waters on election day was returned to Sri Lanka. The very same country ‘our Bilo family’ came from. Where, no doubt, those onboard will face persecution. You do not save people by turning back boats. You just send them back to die somewhere else. Seeking asylum in Australia is not illegal. It is a basic human right. All people are entitled to protection of their human rights including their right to seek asylum regardless of how or where they arrive.
It seems obvious that anyone who comes by boat is desperate. They’re desperate because they are refugees who were not able to seek asylum by applying via recognised channels and waiting four years or more for acceptance. By definition, a refugee is stateless, they are at risk of persecution or death. So to further traumatise, marginalise and make monsters of those who arrive by boat is shameful and illogical. No one would risk their life or the lives of family to travel in such a dangerous way unless they had no choice.
I can’t bear to hear the spin that ‘it’s about saving lives’. If you wanted to save lives you’d develop a more humane system. You wouldn’t spend billions on offshore detention to send a message to vulnerable people that if you seek asylum via boat we offer torture as a consequence. There is a huge chasm between the spin on refugee policy and refugee experience. The Nadesalingam family has shown us that.
We need to dig deeper. There are two books every Australian should read, No Friend but the Mountains by award-winning Kurdish journalist Behrouz Boochani, who was illegally detained on Manus Island. Six years of trauma and torture, paid for by the Australian tax payer. Us. The other is The People Smuggler by Robin de Crespigny. It’s the true story of Ali Al Jenabi, the first convicted people smuggler in Australia. The man who was called ‘The Oskar Schindler of Asia’. He saved lives. We vilified him. Then we imprisoned him. These books give you the view from the inside.
We have a new government. We have done better for one refugee family in Australia. Let’s start doing a lot bloody better for all asylum seekers and refugees. We have an ageing population. Refugees are the youngest group of immigrants to come to Australia. As it turns out, we need refugees more than they need us.
Let’s do better.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
