Human Rights in Australia: Spare a thought for those in our gulags

Recent reports of detainees protesting and inadequate mental health support services are reminders that the horrors of the mandatory detention regime have not abated, despite all the hand wringing by Coalition politicians that claim the worst excesses have been mitigated.

As we approach the festive season I'm reminded of that refugee family that is at the heart of the celebration. In the orgy of conspicuous consumption, over-eating and other indulgences it seems to me that the values that we celebrate through the life of Jesus Christ, certainly as they apply to our treatment of refugees, are ignored by the population at large, including by politicians in power who profess to be "Christian" and who are now propounding the cause of "Australian values".

For those that follow these issues I am linking back to an article by Russell Skelton in The Age ("It's time to admit we've created a Gulag"). It seems to me that little has changed.

I am signing off from the blog for the next few weeks along with the rest of the country.

I will spare a thought for sanctuary seekers spending this time behind barbed wire, struggling with their hold on reality and in despair over why they are being treated worse than hardened criminals...


Cartoons by Kudelka & Nicholson in The Australian