Thread by @Miapiaaaaaaaa

Australia’s inhumane immigration policies don’t get talked about enough. Let’s change that. Start here 👇🏻

CW: Racism, Immigration, Detention
#Migration #MigrationDU #Australia

The Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 marked the beginning of what Australian officials dubbed the ‘White Australia Policy’, a series of racist policies aimed at keeping non-Europeans out.

nma.gov.au/defining-momen…

These policies were specifically targeted toward Asian migrants, the prime minister at the time, Edmund Barton, is quoted saying "The doctrine of the equality of man was never intended to apply to the equality of the Englishman and the Chinaman."

aph.gov.au/About_Parliame…

By 1973 these policies were reversed in favor of increasing the labor supply, but in 2001 the Australian government implemented the practice of intercepting asylum seekers arriving by boat and redirecting them to detention centers offshore.

This militarization of the Australian border was dubbed the Pacific Solution. It had bipartisan support and stayed in place until 2008 when it was dismantled by the @MrKRudd administration.
unhcr.org/en-us/news/lat…

In 2013 we saw another resurgence of these practices with the implementation of Operation Sovereign Borders, which is still in effect today.

osb.homeaffairs.gov.au

Part of this operation is a deterrence campaign. Videos like these are circulated to deter people from attempting the voyage.

These videos typically depict a migrant being scammed and losing all their money to a smuggler. The @AusBorderForce distributes a variety of media like this.

For those who do attempt, once detained migrants are subjected to improper medical care, sexual assault, isolation. Detainees have engaged in acts of self-harm as an act of protest to raise awareness of the practices on the island.

aljazeera.com/features/2021/…

@hrw urges other countries to reject Australia’s detention practices. “The cruelty of these camps, in which seven people have committed suicide and children have been terribly traumatized, should not be replicated elsewhere.”
hrw.org/news/2021/07/1…

Australia recently announced that it would end off-shore processing in Papa New Guinea, leaving Nauru as the country’s only processing center. Journalist @BehrouzBoochani explains what this means:

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Activists have made great gains against the inhumane Australian policies. In 2018 the #KidsOffNauru campaign successfully pressured the government to remove the children that were being held in the camp. @kidsoffnauru

Today, activists are working toward Operation Not Forgotten to help resettle refugees who are being held indefinitely in offshore processing centers. They are taking donations for sponsorships here 👇🏻

refugeecouncil.org.au/operation-not-…