Let's not go backwards

Cabinet is meeting tonight and they have a stark choice: to recommit to processing asylum seekers in a faster, more humane way here in Australia -- or to reopen John Howard's 'Pacific Solution' processing centres in Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

These are countries where asylum seekers have waited for up to four years for resolution of their cases, usually without legal representation and with limited access to medical and psychiatric care. In fact, just months ago Immigration Minister Chris Bowen himself said of the processing centres "They did not break the people-smugglers' business model. They broke the people."

Please contact your MP and make sure this Government doesn't make a bad situation worse by returning to John Howard's failed Pacific Solution.

Want to place a call instead? Click here.

Not sure what to write?

There's a default email that we can send on your behalf - but your message will be much more powerful if it's in your words. Here's some tips for how to write a great email.

- Introduce yourself. Why do you care about this issue? You don't need to write a lot - just a little to let your representative know how you feel.
- Be calm and polite - when we lose your temper, we lose the argument.
- Make a clear ask. :et your representative know that you don't want a return to harmful policies or the Pacific solution, or let them know that you'd like asylum seekers to be processed humanely and quickly here in Australia.

Email your MP

Just enter your email and message below to send an email to your MP. If you leave the boxes blank, a default email will be sent on your behalf - but your message will be much more powerful if it's in your words - there are some tips on what to say on the left.

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Subject Email Body Your details and the text below will be sent along with your message.

Dear Member of Parliament,

I'm writing to let you know that I remember the days when families who arrived on our shores fleeing war and persecution were shunted off to remote processing centres on the Pacific islands.  I remember the prison like conditions on Narau that had devastating consequences on Asylum Seekers mental health.  I remember that prominent human rights lawyers were barred from visiting Nauru and that people's basic human rights were ignored.

None of us want to see more families risk a dangerous boat trip to Australia. But Nauru and Manus Island won't help that.

What will help is:
- Increasing Australia's humanitarian program, focused on our immediate region, so that there are more orderly ways for refugees to come to Australia that don't involve undertaking dangerous boat journeys; 
- Encouraging other settlement countries to also increase their refugee intake.
- Working closely with UNHCR and regional partners, in a methodical rather than ad hoc way, to  help them improve their asylum seeker processing systems.

I'm counting on you to show real leadership on this issue.

Thank you.

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