NOVANEWS
The Australian government systematically abuses refugees, particularly children, to intimidate asylum-seeking people, a political analyst tells Press TV.
YouTube – Veterans Today –
“These are unwanted children, the refugees are unwanted people, the abuse of these children, the abuse of these adults is systematic, it is planned and it is a method to intimidate people from seeking asylum in Australia,” said Gordon Duff, senior editor of the Veterans Today.
He added that there is nothing accidental about the Australian government’s measures, stressing it is enforcing a “xenophobic policy”.
“It is very, very clearly planned criminal activity on the part of the [Australian] government,” the commentator said.
Duff pointed to the Australian government’s history of abusing children dating back to the 1850’s and said, “The Australians have a long history of indifference to civil rights, indifference to human rights and total indifference to the rights of children.”
Following a visit to Australia’s main immigration detention center on Christmas Island, the Australian Human Rights Commission reported that hundreds of children, who are held in an immigration center in Australia, have described their living conditions as “hell.”
The rights team, which included a pediatrician and a child psychiatrist, has described conditions in the camp as disturbing.
The conservative government of Prime Minister Tony Abbot is facing criticism for its tough policy on immigrants and asylum-seekers.
Human Rights Watch has recently condemned Canberra’s “mandatory and indefinite” detention of asylum seekers in “offshore centers, where conditions are harsh and unsatisfactory and individuals get little help making their claims.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations refugee agency has denounced the offshore detention centers as “harsh” facilities that impact the men, women and children housed there “very profoundly.”
Abbott has previously pledged tougher immigration policies in dealing with refugees and asylum seekers.
“This is our country and we determine who comes here,” he said.
Abbot’s policies would also include giving only temporary visas to refugees, and blocking appeal rights for failed asylum claims.
