The Pottsville Refugee Support Group welcomes the Albanese government’s announcement that over 19,000 people who have been living on inhumane temporary protection visas will now have the opportunity to apply for permanent visas and rebuild their lives.
The abolition of the temporary protection visa policy is a triumph of compassion and humanity over the politics of fear and division that have dominated refugee and asylum seeker policy in Australia for over a decade.
This is a great first step in working towards real change for refugees and people seeking asylum. There is still a lot to be done with over 70,000 people continuing to live in our communities without security or a safety net to meet their basic human rights.
The Albanese government has an opportunity to make further changes to immigration policy that will return Australia to a compassionate and fair society. We will continue to work with the large network of refugee and asylum seeker support groups around the country to make sure people seeking asylum are treated fairly and humanely.
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