Commenting on the recently released report by a panel commissioned by the Australian government, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, urged Australia to rethink its asylum policy, and "break an ingrained political habit of demonising migrants and asylum-seekers".
The panel's report, which recommended that off-shore detention be employed as it would disuade potentional asylum seekers, has received condemnation and criticism by rights groups Amnesty International and TAG (Tamils Against Genocide).
Pointing out that there was "no empirical evidence that immigration detention deters irregular migration, or discourages people from seeking asylum", Pillay said that UN Human Rights Office had "long-standing concerns about Australia's mandatory detention regime", and reiterated that immigration detention "should always be applied as a measure of last resort, only permissible for the shortest period of time and only when no less restrictive measure is available."
See here for full statement by Navi Pillay released on Friday.
Related articles:
Offshoring lacks transparency and accountability - TAG (14 Aug 2012)
Amnesty 'appalled' at Australian report (14 Aug 2012)
Increase refugee intake, but process offshore says Australian panel (13 Aug 2012)
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