Are temporary protection visas racially discriminatory?
This is the question posed by Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner, Dr William Jonas AM, and discussed in research published by the Commission on 17 October 2002.
When launching the Erace - a web forum on race discrimination issues, Dr Jonas said:
"Today over 8,000 refugees in Australia hold temporary protection visas. They have no right to access many of the settlement supports available to other refugees in Australia and they cannot apply to bring family members to Australia," Dr Jonas said. "These restrictions impact on the long term settlement prospects of these refugees, most of whom are from Iraq and Afghanistan".
Legal research undertaken in the Commission details how an argument would need to be structured to bring temporary protection visas within the federal Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and also within the international treaty on which the Act is based (the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination).
Dr Jonas invited people with an interest in this topic to email the Commission via the E-Race Forum bulletin board. Comments were invited on any aspect of the topic, including:
- The impacts of temporary protection visas on affected refugees?
- Whether there are other legal or human rights concerns about the way temporary protection visas operate?
- Comments on the legal issues paper?
- Whether the services needed by temporary visa holders are being provided by State and Territory governments or community organisations? Whether the Federal Government is funding these services?
- Whether temporary visas are an effective deterrent? Whether they are justifiable as a deterrent to unauthorised arrivals?
