wfn.org | ACNS - Australian Archbishop speaks against splitting asylum seeker

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families

ACNS 3067 - AUSTRALIA - 22 July 2002

Stop splitting up families!

by Peter Carnley

[The Anglican Church of Australia General Synod] The head of the Anglican
Church of Australia, Archbishop Peter Carnley, today called on the Federal
Government to cease splitting up the families of asylum seekers.

"The plight of the two young boys who were recently returned to detention
illustrates the inhumanity of the Government's policy," Dr Carnley said.

"It is simply not possible to justify a policy which tears families apart
and keeps family members in isolation."

Dr Carnley said he had grave doubts that the practice of imprisoning
children was warranted, and that there were many examples of allowing people
to live in the community while awaiting the determination of their fate.

"In Australia, imprisonment should be a punishment of last resort, not a
first resort," he said.

"If we can allow people to be released on bail for criminal offences - as we
should - why not people whose only crime is to have come here without
joining a non-existent queue in some war-ravaged part of the world?" Dr
Carnley asked.

Archbishop Carnley also questioned the Government's stated reason for
returning the children to detention.

"The excuse that the children in this case may be of a different nationality
to that claimed for them is feeble and unproven," he said. "It symbolises a
flawed policy which is overdue for radical review."

"Governments have a duty to show moral leadership," Dr Carnley said. "The
Prime Minister has shown in the past that he is capable of such leadership.
In dealing with asylum seekers, his Government appears to be pandering to
the most uncharitable and xenophobic elements in our community."

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