Australia should abandon a quarter-century of refugee policy built on deterrence and punishment, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has said on the 25th anniversary of the Tampa affair.
On August 26, 2001, the Norwegian freighter MV Tampa rescued 433 people, mostly refugees from Afghanistan, from a fishing vessel north of Christmas Island. The Howard government refused to allow the vessel to land its passengers in Australia, setting in motion the Pacific Solution and offshore processing regime.
ASRC chief executive and founder Kon Karapanagiotidis said the episode had shaped both refugee policy and the political debate that followed.
“Politics poisons policy, and there is no greater example than Australia’s treatment of people seeking asylum. Twenty-five years ago, Tampa presented Australia with a choice: meet people rescued at sea with humanity and protection, or choose fear. Our political leaders chose fear, and we have been living with the consequences ever since.”
He said both major parties had continued to use harsh policies towards people seeking asylum.
“Tampa didn’t just change refugee policy. It changed Australian politics. Politicians discovered there were easy votes in turning people seeking safety into a threat. For 25 years, instead of showing leadership, both major parties have kept reaching for the same cruel playbook.”
The ASRC said the effects of offshore processing and prolonged detention had included family separation, years spent in detention and people left in limbo overseas.
“The human cost has been catastrophic. Years stolen in detention. Families torn apart. People stranded offshore. Lives left in limbo. All because cruelty was repackaged and sold to Australians as deterrence and the great mirage that we need to punish people to protect our borders,” Mr Karapanagiotidis said.
He said current arguments over migration risked repeating the political approach that followed Tampa.
“And 25 years later, we still hear the same drumbeat of fear. Inflammatory headlines. Migration reduced to numbers. People seeking asylum turned into political problems. We deserve better than another generation of this politics.”
The ASRC was founded in Footscray in 2001 as a community-funded food bank and has since become a national organisation supporting people seeking asylum.
“Twenty-five years is enough. We can choose humanity over cruelty and courage over fear. Australia can be a country that protects people seeking safety, instead of punishing them for how they arrived,” Mr Karapanagiotidis said.
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