Australia immigration policy threatens to hijack election agenda

The controversial Australian immigration policy regarding detention camps for asylum seekers at Nauru and Manus Island is giving PM Turnbull a hard time. Malcolm Turnbull’s election agenda focuses on jobs and growth. But the hard-line Australian immigration policy can be a threat to this agenda exposing it to the risk of being hijacked.

Instead of keeping the refugees at detention camps, Canberra is determined to hold the sails at their respective borders in Indonesia and Sri Lanka to avoid further mess.

Australian immigration minister has claimed earlier that accepting refugees in Australia will cause a shortage of jobs for the locals. Turnbull supported his claim and refused to condemn his statement. This has cost him calls of xenophobia since he claimed to deliver a more progressive agenda last year.

Australia’s detention centre network’s former director of mental health services, Peter Young criticized the detention policy. He reported that due to this criticism the police accessed his phone records this week.

He accused the government for forcing medical staff to reveal poor health conditions in the detention camps. He further added that the government is trying to cover up the deaths happening in the detention camps.

The immigration and foreign ministries are avoiding comments on such accusations.

Young want the government to communicate its plan clearly to the public regarding asylum seekers. He said this in reference to the government’s compensating charity for refugees who are attempting self-harm in protest to the conditions at the detention centres.

The government announced this charity earlier this month.

Young demands a public confession on part of the government authorities. He considers their current silence as unethical.

Recently, two asylum seekers had set themselves on fire as a protest against poor conditions in the detention camp at Nauru. One of them died.

Seeing the conditions, Supreme Court at Papua New Guinea ruled the Manus Island detention centre as unlawful, giving orders to close it.

Australian elections have been swayed by the Department of Border Security and Immigration before. Last year, on top of the annual quota of 13,750, the government pledged to take 12,000 Syrian refugees. The opposition party claims to double the quota to 27,000 if they won the election.