After years of frustration, the bipartisan Australian policy of offshore detention of asylum seekers is on the brink. The Papua New Guinea (PNG) Supreme Court ruled the Australian-funded Manus centre illegal.1 The PNG Government bluntly told Australia to shut it down.2 Feeling the pressure, the camps' new operator Ferrovial is now saying it has no "future" in the camps.3 If we can convince Ferrovial to walk away right now, it could force our government's hand. And the growing calls across Australia to #BringThemHere to safety could be realised.
Luckily, we have the perfect opportunity to do just that. Ferrovial depends on
an unblemished reputation for its large government contracts and big operations
across Europe. Running an illegal detention camp could be very bad for
business.
On Wednesday, my colleague Matt and I will be meeting with Ferrovial to deliver
that message before the company's Annual General Meeting. But to prove it to
them, we need a huge social media outcry behind us.
We've learned that some of the most important Ferrovial investors and contracts
are in Italy. So just imagine the pressure on Ferrovial when its brand is
suddenly trending for all the wrong reasons, thanks to thousands of Australians
online talking about its involvement in the camps … in Italian.
Click
here to tweet about Ferrovial in Italian.
(The tweet basically says ".@ferrovial must guarantee it will not operate
illegal refugee detention camps in Pacific Islands!")
Let's be clear about something: this is a huge win for people power. Together,
we have worked for months to break the corporate complicity in the
abuses of the offshore camps – and it's working.
Just this week, GetUp members funded an expert-led trip to Europe to speak
directly to Ferrovial's investors and financiers in the lead-up to Ferrovial
buying Broadspectrum, and taking over the camps. And they listened to us.
One financier we spoke to even said any business association with the offshore
camps and their gross human rights violations would be a commercial disaster –
a message you can be sure got back to Ferrovial HQ.
Ferrovial is already planning to walk away from the camps, and that's great.
But what's needed is urgent, decisive action – a fact made particularly and
horrifically clear this week, as we mourn the tragic death of Omid, a young man
who had been on Nauru for three years and set
himself on fire in desperation.4
Those still in the camps must be brought to safety in Australia immediately –
and Ferrovial can help make that happen, by walking away from the camps right
now. If offshore detention won't end by will, let it end by necessity. Let's
leave the government with no willing host nation, no willing camp contractor –
and no option but to #BringThemHere.
Can you help prove to Ferrovial that they must walk away from the camps
immediately?
Click
here to tweet Ferrovial in Italian.
Don't have twitter? Click
here to write on Ferrovial's Facebook page (in English is fine).
Not on any social media? No worries! Click
here to send them an email.
Thank you for all that you're doing for people seeking asylum. It's incredible,
and it's working.
Shen, Matthew and Aurora for the GetUp team
References
[1] 'PNG's Supreme Court rules detention of asylum seekers on Manus Island is
illegal', ABC News, 26 April 2016
[2] 'Manus Island detention centre to close, PNG Prime Minister says following
court bombshell', Sydney Morning Herald, 28 April 2016
[3] 'Ferrovial reaches 59% of Broadspectrum', Ferrovial, Press release 29 April
2016
[4] 'Refugee who set himself alight on Nauru dies in hospital', The Guardian,
29 April 2016
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