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The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Social
Justice Statement for 2015–16 challenges Australians to think again about our
national response to asylum seekers, especially those who come to Australia
by sea. It invites us to recognise the desperation that has driven these
people to seek refuge far from their homes.
The Statement’s title is For Those Who’ve Come Across the Seas:
Justice for refugees and asylum seekers. The title, taken from the words
of our National Anthem, is intended to remind all Australians of how this
nation has aspired to be a place of welcome and inclusion.
In this Statement, the Bishops address the
divisive national debate over asylum seekers, especially those who arrive by
boat. They confront Australia’s current deterrence-based response and remind
us of the needs of the nearly 60 million people who are displaced around the
world.
The Statement takes its inspiration from the
actions and words of Pope Francis on his 2013 visit to the Italian island of
Lampedusa, where he met the survivors of a refugee tragedy and mourned for
those who had died. It begins and ends with the Pope’s own words and is
strongly based on the Scriptures and Catholic teaching.
The Bishops’ document traces the experiences
of asylum seekers from their flight from persecution and danger, through
their perilous journeys, to their experience in Australia of indefinite
detention, deprivation and insecurity. It asks why both sides of Australian
politics have felt the need to introduce such cruel and self-defeating policies
as offshore processing and indefinite detention.
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