Action: Refugees need permanent visas
As the virtual Big Walk 4 Refugees progresses we invite you to take action on key changes which are needed to ensure that people seeking asylum and refugees get a fair go, and that they are treated with fairness and compassion.
Our first action is on permanent visas for refugees.
Seeking asylum is a human right.
Thousands of people who sought asylum in Australia more than 12 years ago still need Refugee Protection and Permanent Visas.
In 2023 refugees from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane walked and cycled thousands of kilometres to Canberra to highlight this issue. Active lobbying for permanent visas continues.
Around 8,000 people have been living, working, going to school, volunteering in the community and more for over 12 years. But they still only have temporary bridging visas.
These people arrived by boat in 2011 and 2012 but were denied the usual process for assessing their claims for refugee protection.
Their claims were assessed through the deeply unfair and flawed (so-called) Fast Track process introduced in 2014 to make sure fewer claims for refugee status were successful.
The Fast Track process means that thousands of people still have insecure futures.
In 2024 refugees and people seeking asylum led 24/7 protests for 100 days in Sydney and Melbourne and other protests in Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane. These were led by people denied permanent visas under Fast Track.
Additionally, more than 500 people who were held in harsh conditions in offshore detention in PNG and on Nauru years, and were brought to Australia for medical treatment are still on temporary bridging visas. It is currently government policy that they will never be allowed to resettle in Australia.
Most of these people have now been living and working in our communities for many years. They are connected to communities, they are trying to rebuild their lives. They need permanent visas.
📢 This one easy action will show our politicians that you care.
Please take 5 minutes to send a message to the Prime Minister and the Minister Tony Burke:
Contact Form for the Prime Minister: www.pm.gov.au/contact
Email address for Minister Burke: tony.burke.mp@aph.gov.au
Suggested points for your email:
People who have lived and worked in Australia for more than a decade need to have permanent visas.
Many of these people have not had a fair process to assess their genuine claims for refugee protection – they need a fair process
Australia owes a duty of care to people who suffered in offshore detention for years – they need permanent visas now.