Off loading our problems off shore

Eight Burmese men currently held in Nauru have already spent many months in limbo since their boat arrived to Ashmore Reef last August. As recently reported in The Age, the Australian Government's dealings with these men have so far focused on trying to entice them back to Malaysia where the men were previously trying to survive in difficult, insecure and often frightening circumstances.

I have visited these men twice in Nauru since their arrival and I know the level of their anxiety and their fears for the future. If they remain in Nauru they have been told that a country other than Australia will be sought for their resettlement if they are found to be refugees. But without any magic incentive to entice other countries to offer resettlement options, the men could remain in Nauru for many years.

Australia's practice of deterring asylum seekers, by pushing them back or diverting them to other countries, is about avoiding engagement with some of the most vulnerable and most powerless people in the world. It is about blurring the lines of Australia's responsibilities while avoiding the humanity of those who arrive, as well as our own.

Australian Governments need to separate domestic political management from the imperative of ensuring the security of asylum seekers arriving to our shores. We have an imperfect but fully functioning system for processing asylum seekers here in Australia and it provides the best security for assessing the claims of the vulnerable people who come to us for assistance.