Migration Act changes 'allow Morrison to play God'

A senate committee hearing has heard from groups critical of new amendments to the Migration Act. Groups warned the senate on Friday that the changes will give Immigration Minister Scott Morrison too much power over vulnerable people.

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The government is looking to tighten immigration laws (AAP).

The amendments to the Migration Act, initiated by Mr Morrison, are designed to make it harder for some asylum seekers to be granted protection visas, especially if they are thought to be security risks.

This would give the government the right to indefinitely detain refugees who fail the goverment intelligence agency ASIO's security test.

The changes will ultimately give Mr Morrison more power over decisions regarding asylum seekers.

Human rights groups like the , a group of representatives from various church denominations, have criticised the bill.

The taskforce participated in Friday's hearing where they warned the senators that further mistreatment of asylum seekers could lead to a royal commission into their treatment, similar to the current inquiry into child abuse.

In their submission, they say there are potential consequences to Mr Morrison being granted more power to make important decisions. This notion was emphasised during the hearing by Kon Karapanagiotidis, CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

"Why would we want a model where we allow one person to play God, where we take away its robustness and its quality, where we cannot expect one person to be making over 2,000 life and death decisions for people that bleed charities and cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars and harm children, vulnerable people with disabilities, women at risk and people who are unwell? In all common sense, why would we do that?"

Representing the ACRT at the hearing, the Right Reverend Bishop Philip Huggins said it is imperative that the government welcome refugees into Australia. 

"Leaving them in this waiting room zone at the moment, with policies which are driving them into poverty and driving them into mental illness, is irrational and cruel," he said. "They are not the people who were the organised criminals behind the boats. They are here; the boats have stopped."

The report will be handed down on March 3.

 

 


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Published 14 February 2014 10:30am
Updated 17 February 2014 9:20pm
Source: SBS

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