| | Peter Butler Writes:
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| Send a Message to Canberra
Sign our Refugee Petition
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Refugees: A New Consensus
Hello everyone
Over the last two years, we have received several thousand responses to our survey on Asylum Seekers and Refugees: Time for a New National Consensus. http://www.civilsociety.org.au/heartandsoul/Consultation2.htm
We have collated the responses and incorporated the results into this five-point Campaign for a National Consensus on Refugees. http://www.civilsociety.org.au/heartandsoul/refugees.htm
With a new political mood in Canberra, a sensible consensus on these issues is perhaps now possible.
To gather support, we have put the five key points up in the form of a petition. 
| Refugees who are granted asylum in Australia should be given a Temporary Protection Visa for 2 years, renewable for a further 2 years until such time as conditions in their country of origin permit their safe return home. Refugee status does not mean permanent residency in Australia. | | 
| Asylum seekers and refugees should be accommodated and supported in civil society by sponsor families or communities. Detention centres in Australia and offshore should be closed. | 
| Asylum seekers entering Australia by boat should be intercepted and turned back to their ports of departure. | 
| Resources saved through the closure of detention centres should be redirected to supports for refugees close to home, in Jordan, Somalia, and Pakistan. | 
| Refugees with education and skills have an obligation to contribute to development and reconciliation in their homelands once it is safe to return home. |
To sign go to http://www.civilsociety.org.au/heartandsoul/refugees.htm
I’d welcome comments on this petition and the accompanying statement.
Regards
Vern Hughes
Convenor
0425 722 890
http://www.civilsociety.org.au/heartandsoul
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