published letters

Published in Australian Doctor on Friday, May 31, 2013

Dear Editor

While our growing population is of concern, Dr John Vallentine’s description of our treatment of asylum seekers (in Papua New Guinea) is horrific. We cannot extort other countries (eg China) to follow International Law when we flout it so badly.

Strife and unrest in the world is fuelled by poverty, hunger and the large disparity between the “haves” and the “have nots”, which is increasingly visible to everyone worldwide. Strife and unrest drive Australia’s twin fears of terrorism and boat arrivals. The way to work on these issues is firstly with foreign aid to help impoverished countries become self sufficient: money we are shamefully diverting to the Manus Island detention centre. Secondly, when people do flee, we need to create hope that it is possible to seek asylum through “proper” channels ie increase our humanitarian intake. It was a rare breath of air when the government did this, however Tony Abbott will rescind this increase if he takes power.

Boat arrivals are a tiny fraction of our migrant intake, and are using a legal way to ask for help according to International Law. John Vallentine found refugees to be “open, likeable folk” who were “frightened and bewildered”. We cannot imagine what horrors they have already been through to make them flee their homes. Surely we could make room for them in the community once basic security checks have been done, and save Australia billions of dollars? That money should be spent in reducing poverty worldwide, and we should address our population concerns by looking at the other obvious contributors, not by further traumatising people asking us for asylum.

Yours in hope,

Dr Jane Ralls