Unnecessary suffering

For make no mistake, sending these people back to Indonesia is to condemn them to a debilitating existence on top of the effect and memory of the horrors they sought to escape. They will be warehoused in Indonesia, a country which is not a signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees, for up to 10 years under conditions which will lead most to suffer mental deterioration. True they knew the risks they were running, but to take those risks the situation they sought to escape must have been pretty bad. Just ask refugees already living in Australia, as I have, what the conditions were like in their “home” countries that led them to undertake such dangerous risks.

The Australian Federal Police, on behalf of the Australian government, has entered into an unsustainable relationship with its Indonesian counterparts over the blocking of refugees coming to Australia via Indonesia. The Indonesian Police and Army are involved with and indeed in many instances control people smugglers. To the concern of the Indonesian government both the army and police are involved in many corrupt money making activities in Indonesia. Deploying various strategies to counter the activities of their counterparts the AFP, in concert with other Australian agencies, has had some success in stopping the flow of boats. But money will not stop the flow and when the political relationship takes a dip, boats reappear on the water in order to make a point to Australia.

Three months ago the AFP, following a 2007 coroner’s report, made a somewhat overdue announcement that they would commence investigations into the death of five Australian journalists killed by Indonesian soldiers in the takeover of East Timor by Indonesian soldiers in 1975, with a view to prosecuting the soldiers involved.

The Indonesian military was not impressed and boats have been appearing on the horizon ever since.

Kevin Rudd has turned a boat back with the help of the Indonesian President, but will he be able to do that again? This intervention highlights the short term and ad hoc nature of the refugee policy that Kevin Rudd inherited from his predecessor. It is not sustainable and it is unnecessarily harsh.

As Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd should be careful not to feed hysteria, supported and promoted by the tabloid press and the Opposition, nor to endorse their xenophobia. People smugglers exist because of a tragic need, and referring to them as vermin and scum bags, betrays a surprising ignorance of the real world; it is un-Christian. It plays to the lowest common denominator in the Australian community.

Kevin Rudd should deploy diplomatic resources to bring pressure on the government of Sri Lanka to allow processing on shore.

How he now chooses to handle this humanitarian crisis will be a defining moment personally and politically.