A visa that denies fundamental human rights

For some time this blog has been highlighting the inhumane regime of Temporary Protection Visas as they effectively consign asylum seekers to a twilight existence on the margins of our society, dependent on the charity of individuals and community groups for support.

It is encouraging that the mainstream media is beginning to focus on this egregious system. It appears that even when the Howard government acknowledges the validity of an asylum claim, it continues to treat the claimant as a 'non-person' with few rights or entitlements.

In his article in The Age Ben Saul observes:

"Of the seven types of bridging visa, Bridging Visa E, or BVE, may be granted to asylum seekers in Australia unlawfully, including in detention. If a person applies for refugee status more than 45 days after arriving in Australia, their bridging visas deny the right to work and access to Medicare, income and housing support and transport assistance. In 2005, there were almost 8000 people on BVEs.

The lack of federal support shifts the burden for the care of asylum seekers onto state and territory governments and particularly onto charitable, community and religious groups. These groups have been overwhelmed by the financial pressures of caring for large numbers of bridging visa holders, as the Government has vacated its primary responsibility for their welfare.

While it is preferable for asylum seekers to live in the community rather than in detention, without Federal Government support there is a risk that people on these visas may be left homeless, destitute, starving or seriously ill. A Hotham Mission study found almost 70 per cent of people on these visas were homeless or at risk of homelessness, with many in abject poverty and with high levels of physical and mental illness and family breakdown.

Where people on these visas are left destitute, such treatment by Australian law may amount to inhuman or degrading treatment in violation of international law. Both the Convention against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights forbid inhuman or degrading treatment and require Australia to ensure that people are not exposed to it."