Refugees do not leave their homelands willingly
They are forced to leave behind their loved ones and livelihoods because it is unsafe for them to stay. Australia is now their only home, but many only have temporary visas.
Now is the time to provide individuals and families with permanent visas, so they can build their futures with us. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that ‘we’re in this together’. Permanent visas are necessary for people to have a sense of stability and consolidate their sense of belonging.
When people only have temporary visas, they:
• find it difficult to get long term employment
• pay full fees for education and training
• are not eligible to study on scholarships, even if they have been awarded one
• have limited access to government subsidised medication, counselling and access to services
• have difficulty qualifying for a home loan or become home owners (even after paying taxes, putting aside savings, or even being a business owner)
• cannot travel outside of Australia to visit family members or sponsor family members to visit them in Australia
• are permanently separated from families because they cannot apply for family reunion
• live in a permanent state of uncertainty.
Give Them A Future – permanent protection for refugees
The Give Them A Future! campaign is underway and we invite you, along with others across Australia, to join us.
Many Australians are deeply concerned about people who sought safety in Australia approximately eight years ago. The Federal Government calls them the ‘Legacy Caseload’.
While 17,000 or so have been recognised as refugees and granted Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (SHEV) or Temporary Protection Visas (TPV), the remainder are still waiting for their interviews or protection claim outcomes, or have been refused, with many now in an Appeals process.
These visas are not permanent visas. They offer no hope of establishing a safe and secure future. They offer no hope of family reunion and they place refugees in a continual state of extreme stress, fearing that they may eventually be returned to the country from which they fled persecution.
Although it is important to lobby all political parties for permanent protection for refugees, at this particular time, the Give them a Future! campaign invites you to focus your attention on ALP politicians.
The Australian Labor Party is currently reviewing its policies in readiness for the ALP National Conference. We need to ensure that Permanent Protection for Refugees remains a key part of Labor’s Refugee Policy and we need to advocate for amnesty for those in the ‘Legacy Caseload’ still awaiting appeals or outcomes.
Please email, write (and post) letters to the Labor MP in your Electorate or in the closest Labor-held electorate, all Labor senators in your state as well as key Labor politicians:
• the Leader of the Opposition Anthony Albanese,
• Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration & Citizenship Kristina Keneally, and
• Assistant Shadow Minister for Immigration & Citizenship Andrew Giles.
Use this information when drafting your emails/letters:
• a sample letter,
• campaign information sheet,
• ‘Legacy Caseload’ fact sheet.
Here are the contact details for all Labor politicians.
Flood the electorate offices of Labor politicians with our letters of advocacy
to Give Them a Future!
