As a schoolkid in MBS (Penang of course, wakakaka), I was taught that "PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES SHOULD NOT THROW STONES LAH", though during my time the 'lah' was not taught, wakakaka again.
The government (not people) of Australia has shown its disgusting double standards hypocritical behaviour. Read following:
FMT - Australia says it will hold China accountable on human rights.
|
Australia Marise Payne insists staying quiet on sensitive issues is not in Australia’s national interests (Reuters pic) |
SYDNEY: Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Canberra will hold China to account on issues such as human rights, insisting that staying quiet on sensitive issues is not in Australia’s national interests.
Relations between Canberra and its most important trading partner have deteriorated in recent years amid accusations that China is meddling in Australian domestic affairs. Canberra also fears China is seeking undue influence in the Pacific region.
Souring relations have strained bilateral trade, prompting some business executives to call on Australia’s conservative government to prioritise economic policy above social advocacy.
However, Payne said late yesterday Australia would not be silenced.
“We must respect each other’s sovereignty, but we will consistently continue to raise issues such as human rights, including, as I have said, with China,” she said in a foreign policy speech in Sydney.
“Turning a blind eye to all human rights violations means an acceptance of behaviour that undermines the foundations of international peace and stability. Where there is no challenge, there is no progress,” Payne said.
China’s embassy in Canberra did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
China has been widely condemned for setting up complexes in remote Xinjiang that it describes as “vocational training centres” to stamp out extremism and give people new skills. The United Nations says at least 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims have been detained.
MEANWHILE (WAKAKAKA)
SBS - Australia has ignored the UN's request to release the Tamil family from Christmas Island.
|
The family of four are currently the only people detained on Christmas Island. Source: Supplied |
The United Nation’s Human Rights Committee asked the Australian government to release the family from detention within 30 days. That time limit has now passed.
Priya and Nadesalingam and their two children Kopika, four, and Tharnicaa, two, who were both born in Australia, have been fighting deportation to Sri Lanka since March 2018 when they were placed in a Melbourne detention centre after their parents’ visas expired.
The UN committee, which is tasked with monitoring breaches of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), wrote to the family’s lawyer on 1 October in response to a complaint made on behalf of the family against the government.
The committee said they had requested interim measures to have the family removed from detention within 30 days. That timeframe has since expired.
|
The family have submitted a complaint to the UN's Human Right Committee alleging a breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) |
When asked by SBS News why it had not acted on the committee’s request, despite being a party to the ICCPR, a department of Home Affairs spokesperson declined to comment further and pointed to the departments earlier statement, which said it was aware of the UN's request.
In the statement, published on 2 October, the spokesperson said the family would remain on Christmas Island “whilst the judicial review proceedings are before the court”.
|
Supporters of Tamil family call for them to be moved off 'jail-like' Christmas Island
the BIG difference between the right wing Aussie government and the caring compassionate Aussie people |
Leading international refugee law expert Mary Crock told SBS News it was not surprising the government had not upheld the committee’s request.
“The problem is that for many years now … Australia has taken less and less notice of what UN human rights committees say,” she said.
“At the moment, you have a government that really does not believe in the system at all … they take the view that a complaint to the UN system can work its own course, but it won’t interrupt whatever our domestic immigration procedures are.”
|
UN urges Australian government to release Tamil family from Christmas Island |
While the committee has the authority to offer recommendations and make rulings on complaints alleging breaches of the ICCPR, the UN cannot force a country to comply.
Professor Crock believes it is likely the committee will find Australia is in breach of its human right obligations but added the ruling would make little practical difference to the family.
"We’re not living in an age where respect for human rights has any currency. That’s the problem. So the poor old UN, all they can do is keep bleating away and hope one day things will be get better.”
According to the UN, signatories to the optional protocol recognise the “competence” of the committee to hear complaints from people who “claim to be victims of a violation of that state party of any rights set forth in the covenant [ICCPR]”.
Australia has been a party to the protocol since 1991.
The complaint remains in a preliminary phase, during which the committee may request the government take provisional measures if it considers there is a risk of irreparable harm.
Lawyers acting on behalf of the family also declined to comment while the complaint was being investigated but said there had been no major updates to their situation.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has repeatedly said the family, who had settled in the rural town of Biloela, Queensland, would remain on Christmas Island until the case is finalised, which may take many months.
Professor Crock, who is also a practising migration lawyer, believes the high-profile nature of the case will mean the family have little chance of a quiet resolution or the opportunity to move to a third-party country in the interim.
Home Affairs Department officials told a Senate estimates committee that more than 100 staff have been on hand at the centre.