In particular, the Church laments the demonisation of asylum seekers in recent political discourse, the expectation that less-developed countries in our region bear heavy responsibility for housing refugees, and the disregard for rights as set out in the Refugee Convention to which Australia is a signatory.
In a statement first published in 2012, Uniting Church National Assembly President, Rev. Prof. Andrew Dutney, said: “Australia remains the only country in the world with the inhumane policy of reducing its offshore refugee intake for every person accepted as a refugee onshore. While the Uniting Church welcomes the promised overall increase in humanitarian places … this continuing policy is arbitrary and unnecessary. It achieves nothing other than to perpetuate the double lie: that our hospitality is already stretched to the limit, and that onshore refugees are ‘queue jumpers’” (ABC Religion and Ethics).
Rev. Dr Brian Brown, Moderator of the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of NSW and the ACT, said: “As a Church we are inspired by Jesus’ spirit of compassion and justice and his solidarity with the most vulnerable. We cannot simply stand by and watch our fellow human beings treated with such indignity. This is our opportunity to show the depth of our compassion for those seeking refuge from persecution and war.”
