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Public lecture on asylum seeker policy
An internationally-renowned social worker and human rights activist will outline why she believes the detention of asylum seekers should be abolished at a free public lecture at the University of the Sunshine Coast on Tuesday 8 November.
Linda Briskman is a Professor of Human Rights Education at Curtin University who has spent the past 10 years conducting research and advocating the rights of asylum seekers.
Her lecture, titled “Human Rights Betrayed: Asylum Seeker Policy in Australia”, will offer an overview of the Federal Government’s asylum seeker policy and analyse the theoretical clash between border protection and human security.
Media are welcome to attend the public lecture on Tuesday 8 November from noon-2pm at USC’s Lecture Theatre 1.
Professor Briskman said Australia’s deterrence regime for asylum seekers was the harshest in the world, despite its relatively small number of boat arrivals.
“Successive Australian governments have failed asylum seekers miserably even though it is perfectly lawful to seek asylum in Australia,” she said.
“Asylum seekers have few rights in Australia as they are subject to mandatory detention policies and located out of sight and out of mind in remote settings where they are stripped of freedom and criminalised.
“The ‘stop the boats’ mantra ignores the suffering of fellow humans.
“As someone who has visited remote detention centres such as Christmas Island and Curtin in Derby, Western Australia, I have first-hand experience of the harm that detention causes to both asylum seekers and to the reputation of Australia.”
Professor Briskman said her presentation would appeal to anyone wanting to hear an alternative voice to the government and the media on the current debate surrounding asylum seekers.
It is the final in a series of free lectures on social and political issues offered by USC over the past two years.
USC Senior Lecturer in Social Work Dr Christine Morley said the presentations had taken a critical approach and covered a range of topics including mental health, social resilience and the role of community development in working toward world peace.
— Michelle Widdicombe