GetUp! - Minister Morrison, this policy is not saving lives

We may never hear the stories of the asylum seekers who sought our protection, and those who were handed back to Sri Lankan officials over the weekend. But John's story tells us everything we need to know about why Australia's asylum seeker policy is not saving lives. 

In 1986, I left Sri Lanka and came to Australia as a refugee. As a part of the Tamil ethnic group, I faced violence and intimidation in my own country. I witnessed young children become the innocent casualties of the civil war, as the violence inched closer and closer to our home and my family.

So you can imagine my distress at hearing our government is sending people back into the hands of the very people, whom they're fleeing. This is not the Australia I know, the country that took me in with open arms more than 20 years ago.

Are we willing to send asylum seekers back to a place where people are being arbitrarily detained and tortured? Where women are being assaulted? Where they could die? Maybe Minister Morrison doesn't understand the potential consequences of his actions, but I certainly do.

I know we Australians are good and kind people, but perhaps there are many who aren't aware about the reckless acts being perpetrated by our government and their implications.

Please, will you help me share my story and my message to Minister Morrison?

- Reverend John Jegasothy