LETTERS

The Age

Wednesday September 23, 2009

'Department of ignorance' fails us yet againHOW any person in the department of ignorance could listen to the pleas of Teresia Muturi and Grace Gichuhi ("Deportees could face mutilation in Africa", The Age, 22/9) and show no mercy is just one reason why there needs to be a royal commission into this disgraceful department.Many in the Immigration Department should have been fired or charged over the deaths of Australian citizens on the Maru Sala, or the locking up of Cornelia Rau, the torture of kids in Woomera and Baxter, the deportation of Vivian Alvarez and the kidnapping and illegal deportation of Child X.But they still have their jobs and continue on their merry way.They now piously maintain that there are rings of people smugglers who put lives at risk, as they demand these young women be deported into the most monstrous danger. It seems that they don't learn from reports that proved many people we sent back have been murdered, imprisoned, tortured or disappeared.Frauds over many years have cost taxpayers hundreds of millions through the department's staff shockingly mistreating human beings.It is a matter of fact and law that giving refugees a ride away from danger is not criminal or illegal.Yet we lock up people who do it, while at the same time deporting people to danger, without documents.Marilyn Shepherd, KensingtonNo comparison with menTHE Tandberg cartoon (22/9) is disappointing as it makes light of the most serious, traumatic abuse of human rights against women.The circumcision of males, usually performed under sterile conditions at an early age, cannot and should not be compared to the "circumcision" that a woman is subjected to.This type of circumcision is actually mutilation, performed under traumatic circumstances in non-sterile conditions and often leads to a life of pain, death in childbirth and other medical conditions.If our tribunal were to face a similar trauma themselves, or indeed their own daughters were, I feel sure these Kenyan women would be granted a visa to stay. I support these women in their quest for justice and a life without pain.Cathie Meyenn, North CaulfieldGood enough for athletesAS A matter of common humanity and decency, Senator Chris Evans should grant bridging visas to the two women faced with genital mutilation and possible death if they are returned forcibly to Kenya, at least until the complementary protection legislation has passed. He must be aware that women mutilated in this fashion frequently die of this assault. He must be aware of the pain-filled life that awaits them if they do survive this barbaric practice.It is hypocritical in the extreme to offer expedited visas to top athletes while refusing these women protection. Would the situation really be different if they could run fast?Dr Juliet Flesch, KewWe can protect themI REFER to the case of the two young women from Kenya, Grace Gichuhi and Teresia Ndikaru Muturi.Paragraph 154 of chapter seven of the ALP platform of 2009 refers to the "exercise of personal ministerial intervention powers, which are unique or exceptional . . . for humanitarian or other compelling reasons and which under Labor will include a consideration of any complementary protection claims by way of the protection visa framework". This paragraph was drafted for just such a circumstance as these women face.The proposed laws offering complementary protection have not yet been passed.I urge Immigration Minister Chris Evans to find a way to allow these women to remain in Australia until they can be afforded the due complementary protection.Robin Rothfield, secretary, Labor for Refugees (Victoria), Fairfield