In July, on the sixth anniversary of the re-opening of the detention centres on Manus and Nauru, Armidale Rural Australians for Refugees held a solemn vigil in the Mall, calling for the 647 asylum seekers who have been there for six years, to be re-settled.
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As part of that vigil, 50 Armidale people wrote individual messages on postcards to the Prime Minister and the Minister for Home Affairs, and these were posted to them.
We were astonished, and then appalled, that Mr Dutton's recent reply includes the sentence "Today, there are no refugees in immigration detention offshore..."
This is very far from the truth, and an unworthy reply to a group of citizens concerned for the welfare of the hundreds of people still in Australia's offshore processing, who are under Mr. Dutton's 'care'.
The Australian Government asserts that the PNG and Nauru Governments are the responsible authorities. However, Australia pays those foreign governments to do this, and the situation is clearly Australia's responsibility.
In contrast to these heartless and misleading words, the Prime Minister of PNG (whose High Court had previously declared the detention centre on Manus illegal) said on the 6th anniversary "These are human beings we're dealing with - we can't leave them hanging in space."
Well it seems our government is doing just that, and we are ashamed.
Armidale Rural Australians for Refugees
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