After Bilo: An Amnesty for other refugees?

PJLU calling for an Amnesty for Refugees

People Just Like Us, a refugee advocacy organisation based in Australasia, is calling for an Amnesty for all those refugees on bridging visas (the number of those who need asylum has not been transparent and needs clarification**) to be given Permanent Residency along with the TPV & SHEV holders.

There are several refugee cohorts. Joyce Fu of PJLU has said:

“No one should be punished for the way how they came to this country. It is impossible to get a proper visa if fleeing from war or persecution by plane. Under international humanitarian law, those asylum seekers who have come by boat should be treated equally and fairly. This accords with the Refugee Convention to which Australia is a signatory.

“Those refugee suffering under our cruel national refugee policies are entitled to get an amnesty and get on with their life.”

“We need to ensure noone is left behind. The goal is to clear all backlogs created during the last 20 years of persecution,” said Ms Fu.

“Moreover, Australia needs the contribution of migrants on all levels,” says PJLU. “There has been a hiatus in immigration over last the past two years, creating even more capacity. Migrants of all categories need to have certainty so that they can become contributing members of the community. Permanency is more efficient that continually processing short-run visas”.