Building bridges: Advancing refugee protection in a divided world

Thank you for having me.

We are meeting on the lands of the Bedegal people of the Eora nation. I acknowledge their elders and ancestors and their ancient and unbroken culture and connection to country.

No one chooses to be a refugee.

Refugees are people forced to flee persecution and violence, leaving their homes to seek freedom and safety elsewhere.

Recognising our common humanity, we have a global responsibility to cooperate to protect refugees.

The Refugee Convention is the international community's commitment to work together to protect people fleeing violence and persecution.

When Australia agreed to be bound by the Refugee Convention and its 1967 protocol, we agreed to protect refugees who came to our country seeking safety.

Australia has provided safety and a new life in peace and freedom for close to one million refugees and their families since World War 2 -a milestone that reflects decades of humanitarian commitment by our nation.

We continue to provide an important refugee resettlement program giving up to 20,000 humanitarian visas a year. Australia's contribution is vital, as relatively few countries resettle refugees.

People receiving these humanitarian visas get support from highly regarded settlement services.

We have a reputation as one of the world's most successful multicultural societies.

We should celebrate all of this.

But over the years, key parts of our refugee policies have hardened.

For those who've come across the seas seeking safety, Australia's policies remain among the harshest in the world.

Instead of protecting people seeking safety who arrive by boat, successive Australian governments have harmed them - intercepting and turning back boats, detaining those that do reach Australia and transferring them to remote offshore islands.

The Australian Human Rights Commission has consistently raised concerns about the harms caused by Australia's immigration detention, asylum and offshore processing policies. We have called for these policies to end.

There is a better way.

Today I will talk about:

• Our human rights obligations to refugees and people seeking asylum
• A better approach to people seeking safety
• The worrying polarisation, racism and anti-immigration sentiment that is rising in Australia and how to respond.

What are human rights?

Human rights are standards that governments around the world have agreed to meet to ensure that everyone can live a safe, free and dignified life.

Human rights belong to all of us, no matter who we are, where we come from, what we look like or what we believe.

Human rights are about being treated fairly and treating others fairly.

Human rights reflect values like equality, freedom, respect, dignity, kindness, compassion, thinking of others and looking out for each other.

The modern human rights movement emerged out of the horrors of World War 2.

The international community came together and said, "Never Again".

To promote global peace, development and prosperity they came up with new international laws and institutions, most notably the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Australia was closely involved in drafting and supporting the Universal Declaration.

An Australian, William Hodgson, was one of just nine people on the drafting committee led by the extraordinary Eleanor Roosevelt.

Out of the mass slaughter and human suffering, these drafters created a document that should rightly be celebrated as one of the pinnacles of human achievement.

The first article of the UN Declaration proclaims that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

These simple words say to every one of us, no matter who you are, or where you are - you have value, you matter and you deserve dignity - because of the mere fact that you are human.

The words are grounded in our common humanity.

This global Declaration of human equality was revolutionary.

It expressly rejected the idea that some humans were worth less than others - the notion at the heart of slavery, genocide, colonisation, eugenics, so-called scientific racism and more.

The Universal Declaration recognises the right to seek safety for people who are being persecuted.

Article 14 states, "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution".

Other articles protect people's rights to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as well as the right not to be arbitrarily detained.

Subsequent treaties which Australia agreed to comply with, including the Refugee Convention, guarantee these rights under international law.

Specifically the Refugee Convention confirms that people have:

• The right not to be expelled or returned to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened, except under narrow, strictly defined conditions (Article 33)
• The right not to be punished for irregular entry or presence in the territory of a nation that has agreed to the Refugee Convention (Article 31)
• Rights around work, housing, education, freedom of movement and social security.

Our treatment of people seeking asylum and refugees breaches human rights

Since coming to power, the current Australian Government has taken some positive steps to protect the rights of refugees. These include granting permanent protection to over 20,000 people previously on temporary visas, accepting New Zealand's offer to resettle people from our offshore processing system and agreeing with Tuvalu to provide a migration pathway for people affected by climate change - in addition to our pledges to the Global Refugee Forum.

But key aspects of the policies of successive Australian governments violate key human rights obligations.

To meet our obligation to protect people fleeing persecution and other serious harms, we need to fairly and properly assess people's refugee claims.

Yet people who seek to come by boat are intercepted at sea and turned back following cursory screenings that carry serious risks of returning people to harm.

Historically, more than 80% of asylum seekers who arrived in Australia by boat over a 40 year period have been found to be refugees.

Yet only a small fraction of people who are screened at sea are found to have a potential refugee claim - highlighting how flawed this process is.

The Australian Government mandatorily detains anyone who arrives without a valid visa including children and families.

People arriving by boat are banned from settling in freedom and safety in Australia even if they are found to be refugees.

Instead, they are transferred to Nauru, a tiny island nation 3,000 kilometres off the coast of Queensland, smaller than the size of Melbourne airport with a population of around 10,000 people.

There have been well-documented human rights violations and suffering associated with this offshore processing system.

More recently, Australia's policies entered a troubling new chapter, following the High Court decision in the NZYQ case.

NZYQ was an important case where the High Court ruled that the Australian Government cannot indefinitely detain a person without a valid visa in immigration detention when there is no real prospect of their removal from Australia in the foreseeable future.

The court recognised that the Australian Constitution placed important limits on the ability of a government to lock people up indefinitely.

Most of the people directly affected by this case are refugees and stateless people who have lived in Australia for years. Many have deep community ties, including family members and children who are Australian citizens. Some had committed serious crimes, served their prison sentences and have since been subjected to conditions including curfews and electronic monitoring. Others had committed lesser convictions. Some had not committed any crime.

Instead of accepting our responsibility to manage these people and support their rehabilitation and reintegration, Australia has struck a new deal with Nauru deport them there.

Australia has reportedly agreed to pay up to $2.5 billion for the 30-year agreement - an upfront payment of $408 million and $70 million annually.

In August, the government passed a law stripping refugees and other migrants of their right to procedural fairness when removing them to third countries.

There is a better way

As a human rights lawyer, I've been involved in many refugee cases and advocacy to address the harm caused by the policies of successive Australian Governments - particularly around offshore processing policies.

These cases were heartbreaking and highlighted the human cost of the decisions of successive Australian Governments to evade the fundamental promise at the heart of the Refugee Convention - to protect people fleeing harm.

There is no doubt that protecting people who are forced to leave their homes fleeing danger is a complex global problem.

The answer to this problem is not to spend huge amounts of money harming innocent people to deter others from trying to ask us for protection.

The answer is not shifting the responsibility to protect refugees onto other countries who are less capable of supporting them like Bangladesh, Thailand, Uganda, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

The answer is not outsourcing our obligations to Nauru or other cash-strapped nations.

There is a better way.

We can have a fair, well-managed refugee policies that comply with our human rights obligations to people seeking our protection.

We can do this while preventing dangerous journeys by sea, combatting human trafficking and maintaining the integrity of our migration system.

The answer lies in providing people with safe pathways to protection.

Providing better options than the terrible choice of risking your life by staying in your home country and facing persecution and violence, living in unstable, dire conditions in another country - or risking your life on a boat journey.

We need to redirect the enormous political, financial and diplomatic resources away from our current harmful approach towards a new humane approach.

Four measures Australia could adopt are:

1. We should work more meaningfully with regional countries like Indonesia and Malaysia to improve conditions and legal protections for asylum seekers there.

Recent progress like Thailand allowing refugees in the camps along its border with Myanmar to work legally should be championed and expanded where possible.

We should also be working with our regional partners to save lives at sea. In May this year, 427 Rohingya refugees died when their boats capsized off the coast of Myanmar as they attempted a boat journey to seek safety.

As Co-Chair of the regional cooperation mechanism, the Bali Process and a key partner to ASEAN, Australia can play a stronger role in coordinating maritime operations and preventing deaths at sea. This should be centred on human rights and not containment or deterrence. We need to ensure refugees and people seeking asylum have other options than resorting to a dangerous, deadly journey.

2. We should redirect some of the billions of dollars we spend on deterrence measures to increase funding to both UNHCR and refugee-led organisations to process and support asylum seekers and refugees in other countries. The Refugee Council's analysis shows that Australian governments have now spent over $13 billion on Australia's offshore processing system since the policy was reintroduced in 2012.

We know that the lack of support for refugees in other countries, like Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, is a factor which makes it more likely they will attempt dangerous boat journeys to Australia and elsewhere.

3. We should increase the number of refugees we take from the UN resettlement pool In the 2025-2026budget, the Refugee and Humanitarian Program will remain at 20,000 places. It should be higher.

Again with thanks to the Refugee Council analysis, we know that over the 10 years to December 2022, Australia recognised or resettled 180,073 refugees, 0.75% of the global total recognised or resettled in that period. On this measure, Australia was ranked 30th overall, 41st on a per capita basis and 77th relative to national Gross Domestic Product.

We need to increase our contribution.

We should also increase complementary pathways such as work, education, family reunification and community sponsorship pathways for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. These should be in addition to our core humanitarian program.

The Labor Party has committed in its policy platform to increase both the humanitarian program to 27,000 places and to have an additional 10,000 complementary pathway places. Given the global need, this needs to happen urgently.

4. We should urge other nations with capacity to do so to follow our lead. Instead of inspiring others to adopt harsh deterrence measures that breach people's rights, by taking a more humane approach we can not only lead ourselves, but we can encourage others to do the same. We can only address global refugee issues through global cooperation.

Of course, we also need to address the root causes of people being displaced - promoting peace and human rights through diplomacy, leadership, accountability and development assistance.

Building bridges in a divided world

I want to end by talking about addressing the rising polarisation, racism and anti-migrant sentiment in Australia.

Australia is a successful multicultural nation. The Scanlon Foundation surveys show strong continuing public support for multiculturalism.

However recent surveys show this support, while still strong, is dropping.

Other surveys point to rising anti-migration sentiment.

There is also no doubt that racism has risen in Australia - following the failed Voice referendum for First Nations people, and due to domestic impact of the Israel-Hamas war for Jewish, Muslim, Palestinian, Arab and Australian Israeli communities.

We have the recent anti-migration rallies that targeted the Australian Indian community and others and there are periodic calls from some politicians to abandon Australia's longstanding bipartisan commitment to a non-discriminatory migration policy.

At same time, mis and disinformation is being spread on social media, amplified by algorithms that prioritise and monetise division and outrage.

These are worrying times, at home and abroad.

We can't be complacent and must respond effectively.

In doing so, we need to take care around understanding the different specific dimensions of these issues whether they relates to refugees, asylum seekers, broader migration, racism, diversity and equality initiatives or human rights more broadly.

But I believe there are some common themes and requiring common responses.

And I believe that despite the challenges, there are strong fundamental values around fairness and compassion that help us in Australia.

Since I started this job 16 months ago, I've done a lot of thinking about Australian values.

What is it that unites us as Australians?

How do we define what we stand for as a nation?

Our citizenship booklet talks about our values.

It says: Australians believe in shared values such as the dignity and freedom of each person, equal opportunity for men and women, and the Rule of Law.

It says: Australian citizenship is about living out these values in everyday life.

It goes on to describe other "core" values including freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of religion.

The citizenship pledge, which all new citizens make, includes a promise to respect Australia's "rights and liberties".

Even people seeking visas in Australia must agree to an Australian Values Statement which reads:

I understand that Australian society values:

• respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual;
• freedom of religion...freedom of speech, and freedom of association;
• … the rule of law …;
• parliamentary democracy…
• equality of opportunity for all people…;
• a 'fair go' for all that embraces:
  • mutual respect;
  • tolerance;
  • compassion for those in need;
  • equality of opportunity for all...

So it seems that human rights values, including fairness, compassion and dignity, are at the heart of what we say it means to be Australian.

The Prime Minister in his election victory speech in May echoed this when he said:

"Today, the Australian people have voted for Australian values.

For fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all.

For the strength to show courage in adversity and kindness to those in need.

… so let all of us work together to build our national unity on the enduring foundations of fairness, equality and respect for one another."

I love these words.

We need to reaffirm and strengthen them and live up to these values through our actions and apply them to everyone in the community.

This will help to address rising racism, polarisation and division.

It will help to unite us.

There are many ways to do this.

Some of the key actions we think the Australian Government should take are:

• Establish an Australian Human Rights Act - legislation that protects in Australian law the rights that Australia has promised to protect at the international level. This is a missing piece of Australia's democracy. It would fix holes in our human rights safety net and build a stronger culture of protecting rights. It would be like a reverse citizenship pledge from our government and parliament promising to protect the human rights of all people in Australia.
• Establish a national human rights education plan - we need to build better understanding of human rights and addressing lagging civics education standards.
• Implement the Commission's National Anti-Racism Framework - 63 recommendations aimed at eliminating racism from our society across key sectors like health, education, media, workplaces and justice.

Fairer, more humane refugee policies - showing kindness for those in need - are part of this picture.

For the refugee and human rights sectors, we need to do a better job of storytelling to humanise refugee policy issues.

This must be done ethically and be led by refugees.

In my previous work with people detained on Nauru and Manus, we worked hard to create safe and ethical opportunities for them to tell their stories - their hopes and dreams for a new life in freedom and safety.

Proximity to human stories brings empathy, compassion - and change.

Governments know this. That's why they make it hard to achieve this proximity - detaining people in remote, hard to reach places, limiting access to journalists, advocates and oversight bodies and shrouding "on water matters" in secrecy.

There are many examples showing the potential for change. Take the Murugappan family from Biloela. Against the odds, with the support of a regional Australian community, they told their story, won support from across Australia and now are able to live their lives in freedom and safety in Australia.

The Let Them Stay campaign to prevent the deportation of babies born in Australia to harm on Nauru is another good example.

We provide protection because it is the right thing to do. But we should also better explain economic and social benefits refugees bring to Australia - particularly over the long term. We need to tell more stories of the rich and diverse contributions refugees continue to make to Australian society.

It was good to watch to Mohammed Naeem's talk this morning and reflect on the theme of this conference in building bridges.

Some takeaways from me from what he said are:

1. We need to get out of the echo chambers. We need to engage with people with a range of views in respectful dialogue. We need to work hard to find common ground. More curiosity and less criticism. We need to hold firm to our human rights principles and stand with communities whose rights are at risk. But shouting at people telling them they are wrong won't help. We need to bring people with us and show how everyone benefits when we protect people's rights.
2. We need to highlight the success stories, big and small - and build the community understanding and connections. Evidence from Canada shows the promise of community sponsorship schemes in building stronger support for more compassionate refugee policies.
3. We need to take a generational approach. For me, this underscores the importance of human rights education and building a much stronger culture of understanding and respecting rights.
4. Finally, we need to proactively, strategically and effectively communicate. If we vacate public debates, the void will be filled by hostile narratives.

It can be easy to lose hope when things are as challenging as they are globally, and this was underscored at yesterday's UN80 conference in Sydney. The UN is facing a dire situation with 30% cuts impacting on the most vulnerable across the globe.

But I think there are strong fundamental Australian values around fairness and compassion. These provide the basis for better, more humane refugee policies that live up to the promises we have made globally.

Because of what's happening globally, we need to be the best that we can be in Australia. We need to work strategically and effectively together and if we do, I firmly believe we can build bridges in this divided world.