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Six hundred refugees and asylum seekers detained by the Australian government on Manus Island, part of Papua New Guinea, have written a letter to the Australian prime minister saying they want assistance to die.
Refugee advocate and human rights lawyer Julian Burnside published the letter on his website this week.
“The importance of this letter is that it sets a challenge for all of us who are preparing to celebrate Christmas. Read the letter and ask yourself: By treating people this way, are we being true to the Christian spirit, or are we betraying it?” Burnside wrote.
The conservative Australian government has a policy of “offshore processing”: Of stopping refugee boats on their way to Australia and sending them to nearby islands. There, refugees are usually detained for years and sometimes told that they will be resettled in Papua New Guinea when, or if, their claims are granted. Being isolated like that makes it even harder for refugees to access lawyers, information, or anything they need, and for Australians to protest the refugee prisons or to send in solidarity groups.
Refugees on Manus Island face inhumane conditions; living in tents managed by private contractors, frequently violently attacked by police and private security guards, going without shoes, putting up with extreme heat, substandard food, severely limited health care access, and broken toilet and shower facilities.
The refugees wrote:
30/11/15
Hello Dear Mr Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Dutton.
As the refugees and asylum seekers trapped in Manus Island detention we would like to request you something different this time.
As previously we wrote and asked for help and there was no response to our request to be freed out of detention we realized that there are no differences between us and rubbish but a bunch of slaves that helped to stop the boats by living in hellish condition. The only difference is that we are very costly for the Australian tax payers and the Politicians as our job to “stop the boats” is done.
We would like to give you some recommendations to stop the waste of this huge amount of money ruining Australian’s reputation and to keep the Australian borders safe forever.
1. A navy ship that can put us all on board and dump us all in the ocean. (HMAS is always available)
2. A gas chamber (DECMIL will do it with a new contract)
3. Injection of a poison. (IHMS will help for this)
This is not a joke or a satire and please take it serious.
We are dying in Manus gradually, every single day we are literally tortured and traumatized and there is no safe country to offer us protection as DIBP says.
Best regards
Merry Christmas in advance
Manus refugees and asylum seekers.
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