Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the recent decision by the Rudd Government to suspend the processing of asylum claims from Sri Lankan and Afghan nationals for 3 and 6 months respectively, and

(ii)

in 2009, Australia received just 1.6 per cent of all asylum claims lodged in the world’s 44 industrialised nations, with less than half of this number arriving by boat;

(b)

recognises that this new policy is in breach of Australia’s international obligations under the:

(i)

United Nations Refugee Convention,

(ii)

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and

(iii)

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

(c)

congratulates the joint statement from 45 non-government organisations from 16 countries, in condemning the Australian Government’s decision to suspend the processing of asylum claims for Sri Lankans and Afghans; and

(d)

calls on the Government to immediately reverse its suspension of asylum applications, restoring the right of people seeking protection from persecution to have their claims assessed in a fair and timely manner.