It would seem Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor has heard our calls to 'Shut Down Manus Island', announcing yesterday that newly arrived asylum seeker families will now be eligible for release into the community. In Mr O'Connor's own words, this latest announcement in in "response to advocates who've called for ensuring that people are treated properly"1 - that's you!
While these changes are welcome news, it still begs the question GetUp members have been asking for months:
Why is the Manus Island detention centre still open?
Mr O'Connor himself has conceded that detaining asylum seekers "is not only expensive, it takes a toll on people's mental health and wellbeing".2
Let's end this shameful chapter of Australian refugee history. Share this petition to demonstrate your support and demand the Manus Island detention centre be shut down once and for all.
Click here to share the campaign on Twitter.
If you're on a desktop computer, click here to share the campaign on Facebook.
If you're on a mobile device, click here to share the campaign on Facebook.
Forward this link to family and friends: http://www.getup.org.au/shut-down-manus
Yesterday's announcement is a step in the right direction; it will see newly arrived asylum seeker families, with children under the age of 16, become eligible for bridging visas. However, it does nothing to help the 34 children and their families who are already in detention on Manus Island, unsure of when they'll be free.
We know the power of sustained public pressure to do the right thing has a significant impact decision makers. Two months ago tens of thousands of GetUp members ran a powerful campaign and aired a TV ad that first brought the stories of the children on Manus Island into the public eye. The campaign was followed by the Government's announcement that all pregnant women and their families would be transferred off Manus Island to have their claims processed within Australia. A clear admission that Manus Island is unsuitable for children.
Let's get those kids out of this hell hole. As more and more men, women and children - some as young as ten - crowd the already cramped detention centre, their physical and mental health is being increasingly put at risk.
Can you share this petition with at least one other person to help reach our target of 50,000 signatures?
Click here to share the campaign on Twitter.
If you're on a desktop computer, click here to share the campaign on Facebook.
If you're on a mobile device, click here to share the campaign on Facebook.
Forward this link to family and friends: http://www.getup.org.au/shut-down-manus
The more people who sign and speak up, the harder we'll be to ignore. There is no reason - political, social or economic - for the Manus Island Detention Centre to continue operation. Let's put an end to the system destined to be a blight on Australian history for generations to come.
Share the petition with your friends and family, and let our politicians know that shipping asylum seekers offshore might put them out of sight, but not out of mind.
Thanks for sharing,
the GetUp team.
PS. If you have two minutes to spare, there's one more thing you can do right now: click here to write to Minister O'Connor on Facebook and ask him to shut down the Manus Island detention centre.
[1] View the transcript of the doorstop interview with the Immigration Minister here, 7 May 2013
[2] View the Immigration Minister's statement here, 7 May 2013
[3] No plans to move families off Manus Island, ABC News, 30 April 2013. Available here
[1] View the transcript of the doorstop interview with the Immigration Minister here, 7 May 2013
