Human Rights Law Centre joins call on PM to ensure #NobodyLeftBehind during COVID-19
The Human Rights Law Centre has joined a call from over 180 civil society organisations to extend critical COVID-19 support to temporary visa holders, including refugees and people seeking asylum.
In an open letter sent to the Prime Minister today, the group outlined their concerns that 1.1 million temporary visa holders across the country are in precarious situations as COVID-19 unfolds, with no access to JobKeeper or JobSeeker, limited access to Medicare, and visa insecurity. The broad cross-section of faith-based groups, unions and human rights organisations is calling on the Prime Minister, Treasurer and Minister for Families and Social Services to address these gaps.
David Burke, Legal Director with the Human Rights Law Centre said that everyone deserves to be safe and protected during this public health emergency.
“We are all part of one community and now more than ever we need everyone to be able to access the protection they need to be safe during the pandemic. Temporary visa holders, including refugees and people seeking asylum, must be able to feed themselves and their families, ensure their health and well-being and keep a roof over their head. No one can be left behind in this COVID-19 public health emergency,” said Burke.
The coalition of organisations, including the Refugee Council of Australia, World Vision, Australian Council of Social Services, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and Australian Council of Trade Unions are responding to advice from epidemiologists and medical experts who are concerned that people who have lost their jobs and can’t access any support will be forced to choose between protecting themselves and feeding their families.
One such voice is medical epidemiologist and principal research fellow at Melbourne’s Burnet Institute, Professor Michael Toole AM who has over 40 years of experience working in public health, including ten years at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, coordinating their response to emergencies.
“To effectively suppress community transmission of the coronavirus in Australia, key elements of the response need to be accessible by vulnerable populations, which include those people living in crowded settings. These may include those who have not been eligible for government benefits and thus cannot afford decent housing, food and access to health care,” Professor Michael Toole AM said.
“Australia must do all it can to ensure that vulnerable people such as those lacking permanent resident status are not disadvantaged by their inability to adhere to recommended public health measures like physical distancing and hand-washing.
”Heeding this medical advice, the coalition of organisations is concerned that unless prompt action is taken to ensure people have support during this time, we could go down the path of Singapore. Lauded as a world-leading response to COVID-19, Singapore now records the most COVID-19 cases in all of Southeast Asia, due to a massive outbreak of the virus amongst migrant workers communities.
“We only have to look to Singapore to see the risk associated with excluding large numbers of people from crucial support. Like Australia, early interventions meant that cases were low in Singapore. Like Australia, the Singaporean government introduced extensive support packages but excluded large numbers of people on the basis of their visa status. In recent days, there has been a huge explosion of cases in Singapore among migrant workers living in cramped conditions, as they were unable to safely distance from one another,” said Paul Power, CEO of the Refugee Council of Australia, who is coordinating the joint letter.
“This should serve as a clear warning to Australia,” Mr Power said.
“Many people on bridging or temporary visas are living in overcrowded situations due to financial hardship. As the financial fallout of the pandemic increases, this situation will only deteriorate. The Australian government has shown true leadership in its response to COVID-19 thus far. We’re simply asking them to fill in the gaps.”
The Human Rights Law Centre is a member of the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) – the peak body for refugees and the organisations that support them.
Media contact:
Michelle Bennett, Communications Director: 0419 100 519