Sydney – Peter Catt, Anglican Dean of Brisbane, said Anglican churches in Australia have offered sanctuary to asylum-seekers who face deportation to offshore detention camps.
He said in Sydney on Thursday while addressing the congregation that the offer of sanctuary was a rekindle of the old English tradition from the middle Ages.
Catt said the offer has become imperative following the ruling of the High Court.
He said the court ruled on Wednesday to allow the government’s policy of intercepting all migrants travelling by sea, and either turning them back or processing their asylum claims offshore.
The dean said the judgement came after human rights activists have complained of harsh conditions at the centres.
Catt said Brisbane’s St John’s Cathedral and nine other churches in Australia would provide sanctuary to those affected.
“Something radical has to happen. We have been dismayed at how the asylum-seekers are treated, especially the kind of trauma that the children are subjected to.
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He stressed that even though some experts warned the move was on shaky legal ground, yet the move was relying on moral and spiritual arguments.
“We are not outside the law. But we are ready to face court or jail if it comes to that.
“But it will be a very bad look for the civil authorities to use force”, he said.
Bill Potts, the President of the Queensland Law Society, described the move as noble, but pointed out that there was no modern power of sanctuary in Australian law.
Meanwhile, Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, said the government would not drag asylum seekers out of churches for deportation.
He said instead their cases would be individually considered on medical advice.
“We have to be compassionate on one hand but we have to be realistic about the threat from people-smugglers. (dpa/NAN)