Misha Coleman, who is the Executive Officer for the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce submitted the following\u00a0press release earlier this week.\u00a0 As a patron, I fully support\u00a0this\u00a0statement.<\/p>\n
Budget bonanza continues for corrupt states to lock up those who seek asylum<\/strong><\/p>\n Speaking from Treasury after being released from the lock-up, Executive Officer Misha Coleman said that \u201cthe boats still haven\u2019t stopped, but money keeps pouring down the sink for offshore detention. With images today of 8000 people sweltering in misery in boats in the Malacca Straits, how long can we continue the politics of deterrence, with a price tag of $811 million\/year`\u201d.<\/p>\n She said that \u201c using the latest figures from the Department of Immigration, which say there are 1707 people locked up in Nauru and Manus Island, this equates to a cost of $475 000 per asylum seeker per year. \u201c The estimated costs also appear to have blown out last year – this time last year offshore processing was supposed to cost $827 million, but the price tag has come in at $913 million, according to the budget papers.<\/p>\n Ms Coleman pointed out that \u201ctwo weeks ago, West Australian Premier Colin Barnett said he had to shut down aboriginal communities because some were costing up to $85 000\/person\/year, a figure he hasn\u2019t been able to really explain yet. So my question to Colin Barnet and Tony Abbot tonight is whether they are happy that West Australian taxpayers, like the rest of us, are spending $475 000\/person\/year locking women and kids, mums and dads up in Nauru and Manus Island? Shouldn\u2019t they be closed down too?\u201d<\/p>\n In an ironic twist, the Budget Papers also states that it will cost the taxpayer $4.3million to gain efficiencies in the DIBP portfolio next financial year.<\/p>\n Ms Coleman said that \u201cNorfolk Island will get $5.4 million to reform itself \u2013 although Norfolk Island has repeatedly said it would be an ideal location for humane and cost-effective processing of asylum seekers. Hopefully they can use some of this $5.4 million to bid for the next round of lucrative detention facilities contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis government really has a playschool-level understanding of refugee flows \u2013 by cutting aid to countries like Vietnam, we only increase the poverty and misery that force people to flee from these. Vietnamese boat people are still coming, despite the illegal response by the Australia Government to send these boats back \u2013 as they did a couple of weeks ago to 26 asylum seekers from Vietnam. We still have no idea what happened to those people when they arrived back \u2013 we have to assume the worst\u201d<\/p>\n She said that \u201cCambodia is one of the few countries that has escaped an aid budget cut, while neighbouring Vietnam, Laos and Burma were all hit with 40% budget cuts. I must say that the Cambodia Government are great negotiators though. By agreeing to take up to 10 refugees from Australia and Nauru each year for four years, the aid budget provided nearly $40\/million. That\u2019s $1 million\/refugee, and that was only the original agreement, we\u2019re now paying even more on top of the original deal\u201d.<\/p>\n She closed by saying that \u201cwith all this cash floating around the immigration portfolio, it is highly disappointing that this Minister has again this year refused to fund the Refugee Council of Australia\u201d.<\/p>\n The Press Release can be found here<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n The Australian Refugee Taskforce website is available here<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Misha Coleman, who is the Executive Officer for the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce submitted the following\u00a0press release earlier this week.\u00a0 As a patron, I fully support\u00a0this\u00a0statement. Budget bonanza continues for corrupt states to lock up those who seek asylum Speaking … Continue reading