Ruth Halbert
artist, weaver
Paper boat Rud.jpg

Blog: Dear Prime Minister

On July 30 2016 I started writing letters to the Prime Minister of Australia to protest against the imprisonment and torture of the asylum seekers in the offshore detention centres of Manus Island and Nauru. I started with the intention of writing a letter a day for every person in detention until they are all freed. There are more than 1800 asylum seekers in off shore detention. These are those letters and any response from Mr Turnbull.

Letters to Tyranny #28

Dear Prime Minister,

In the letter I have received from the DIBP the writer ('JC') states that

If only that was true. You and Minister Dutton have repeatedly said that the refugees on Manus Island who can't be resettled on Papua New Guinea (which is all of them) will be sent back to their country of origin. Yet the very first part of the 1951 Refugee Convention says

"The core principle is non-refoulement, which asserts that a refugee should not be returned to a country were they face serious threats to their life or freedom. This is now considered a rule of customary international law."

Your statement breaks this international rule. We are obliged under the 1951 Convention to resettle Mr XXX XXX, the 28th man, and all the others trapped on Manus Island, to Australia. What is your time frame for doing this?

Yours faithfully

Ruth Halbert

politics, liesRuth Halbertrefugees, human rights, United Nations, Manus IslandComment