An Open Letter To Immigration Minister Scott Morrison

I was originally supposed to just report directly on the newest developments in Canberra – in which you’ve successfully managed to pass legislation that gives you supreme, unchallengable power over the lives of Asylum Seekers. But I’m just so goddamned baffled and exasperated by the whole thing that facing the crowd and shouting at them to look at what you’ve done no longer seems like an apt usage of my time. Frankly, I’m tired of just watching the things you do in your capacity as the Immigration Minister and then relaying that to the people that read these articles. So instead, I’m turning around on this little soapbox of mine to face and address you directly, for whatever that’s worth.

Firstly I think it’s important to, in the simplest terms possible, run you through exactly what you just did in Parliament, because I’m not entirely convinced that you yourself fully understand the weight of it.

You just pushed through a bill called the Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Bill 2014. That’s quite the legislative mouthful, I’ll give you that. But let’s quickly run through what that means.

• You, Scott Morrison, Federal Immigration Minister, now have the power to simply push any Asylum Seeker boat back out to sea and leave it there.
• You, Scott Morrison, Federal Immigration Minister, now have the power to block any person from ever making a claim for asylum on the barely defined grounds of “character” and “national interest.“
• You, Scott Morrison, Federal Immigration Minister, now have the power to not disclose your reasons for blocking these claims. Ever.
• You, Scott Morrison, Federal Immigration Minister, now have the power to order people to be detained without charge for indefinite periods of time.
• You, Scott Morrison, Federal Immigration Minister, now have the power to order people to be deported to any country of your choosing, even if you are aware that they will be tortured or murdered when they arrive back in that country.
• You, Scott Morrison, Federal Immigration Minister, now have the power to never be challenged on any decision you make under this amended legislation.
• You, Scott Morrison, Federal Immigration Minister, have done all of this to follow the rhetorical mantra of “stop the boats.”

Why, Scott? Why is it so necessary that this quite extraordinary range of administrative power be placed in the hands of a single person?

Why is it so necessary that these drastic actions – and let’s be real here, these are fucking drastic actions – be taken against what’s truthfully a pretty small amount of people?

Why have you felt that you, and Australia, know better than the internationally recognised Refugee Convention, which Australia originally helped to draft, to the point where you feel comfortable in removing all responsibility related to non-refoulement (the legal principle which states a person cannot be forced to return their persecutors) from Australian law, effectively wiping our hands clean of the situation and declaring that the fate of individuals escaping very real threat considered unfathomable by Western standards is of no concern to us as long as they don’t wind up here?

Why, when all other Immigration Ministers have shied well away from playing God with the lives of innocent people, do you feel that you are the one man qualified to have that undertaking?

Why do you feel that the criticisms of groups of no less an authority than the United Nations are unfounded and thus worthy of ignoring completely?

The real bottom line to all my concerns here, is simply this:

It’s not like the criticism is unfounded, after all. The UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees, along with the UN’s Committee Against Torture have expressed concerns that this new legislation kind of rids the accountability of the Government – or, y’know, rids you of accountability, given that you’re now King Swinging Dick of all things asylum immigration – whilst simultaneously stripping just about every person who arrives by boat of their basic protection rights.

Also, I think I should be clear here that when I say “every person” I’m referring to the relatively small amount of people that have actually tried to arrive via boat. You’d probably be well aware of the statistics – since July 1, 1976 the amount of people arriving by boat TOTALS 69,445. That amount in 38 years. And whilst there’s obviously been a spike in numbers in the past two years, it should be pointed out that you, as a Government, have been in power for well over 12 months, meaning a lot of those numbers happened on your own watch, even in the face of previously harsh policy decisions like Operation Sovereign Borders and the threat of offshore processing on Manus Island or in Nauru.

Actually, while we’re on the subject of detention centres, there’s currently 2,151 people being held in those two mentioned above. As part of the deal you cut with senators, Scotty, you pledged to resettle 18,750 offshore refugees over the next four years. Now, I’m no fancy big-city mathematician. But it seems to me that you’ve got plenty of room to have a fair crack at sorting that shit out.

And it’s not like the people that try to come here are a bunch of rogue criminals on the run from the law and sailing the high seas in some sort of sexy pirate adventure. These are innocent people – often women and children – that you, yes you, are holding against their will simply for having the audacity to attempt to escape despair. No one, not one person, is illegal by the virtue of existing.

I’m baffled as to how you can just turn a blind eye to the indignities and the suffering imposed upon people by you – yes, YOU – and how you can, for all intents and purposes, place a greater importance on creating policy that is in line with party rhetoric, that is more in tune with the fear-mongering campaign ticket your Government sailed into town on, and that is more conducive to maintaining public appeal in the Liberal heartland than it does on people… y’know… being treated like human beings.

I hate the style of muckraking and childish insults that dominates Australian politics in 2014. And I’m certainly not about to suggest that Sarah Hanson-Young labelling you a “sociopath” was the height of professionalism or in any way a good use of Parliamentary time. But, damn it, I’m having a real hard time arguing against her right now.

I’m not saying you need to drop what you’re doing and throw open the borders to everyone, willy nilly. I’m just saying that it’s far more just (and to be perfectly honest, probably a hell of a lot more cost-effective) to process cases without a broad brush. To treat people humanely and with respect. And to work with your international partners to develop refugee networks to find applicable, safe, and ethical resettlement options for people in need.

20,000 people arrived last year. 20,000 people isn’t that many. Australia’s a huge, giant expanse of land. We could use a few more people who are willing to work and contribute and lead happy lives, particularly in regional areas.

I’m not saying, Scotty, that you need to be visited by the ghosts of Christmas (Island) Past, Present and Future whilst you sleep. I’m not saying that you need a little sprinkling of fairy dust to melt your icy heart. I’m just saying that the things you are doing are dickish in nature, and I do not understand their motivation one little bit. And believe me, I have tried.

Locking the door shut on people is the easy, and cowardly, way out of this situation. There are better ways to deal with the issue. All I’m asking of you is that you please consider finding them.

Yours sincerely,

Cameron Tyeson.