Human rights lawyer Julian Burnside said he was “utterly astounded that Abbott would say something so foolish”.
“It must flow from that he does not believe in human rights as having any value, or that he doesn’t believe that boat people are human,” Burnside said.
“It seems that Mr Abbott thinks that you have human rights if you’re white or Christian or pleasant or rich, whereas the truth is you have human rights because you’re human.”
The executive director of the Human Rights Law Centre, Hugh de Kretser, said: “There is nothing admirable about ignoring the immense harm being inflicted on vulnerable people by our asylum seeker policies.
“Leadership would be shifting the enormous resources currently being spent on harming people towards developing a sustainable solution that provides safe pathways for people who need Australia’s protection,” he said.
“We can save lives at sea without being cruel to those that survive the boat journey.”
No comments:
Post a Comment