An Open Petition to Mr Joe Biden, President-Elect, United States of America
Dear Mr Biden, President-Elect,
We write to you to congratulate you as the President-elect and Ms Kamala Harris, as Vice-President elect on the election win; a win which the majority of voters across the USA and fair minded people across the globe have fervently wished for. During the election campaign and on winning, you have eloquently and movingly argued for a less belligerent and more open and humane United States, a country that is desirous of healing its racial wounds and a nation that welcomes and embraces a more multicultural identity.
It is in this vein we, of the Australian Advocacy for Good Governance in Sri Lanka (AAGGSL), Voice For Democracy in Sri Lanka (VFDSL) Collective and the fellow signatories of this appeal, draw your attention to the plight of refugees who had sought asylum in Australia. Most of them have been languishing for far too long in offshore detention centres in what many an observer has reported to be held under inhumane conditions.
We would like you to resurrect the deal signed by your illustrious predecessor President Barak Obama and our then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in 2016, a deal in which the United States of America publically agreed to take up to 1,500 refugees, predominantly from Iran, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Many refugees are currently being held in Australian offshore island camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. However, the president who replaced President Barack Obama branded this deal ‘dumb’.
Our sincere appeal to you as President-elect and Ms Kamala Harris as vice-President elect is to revive that deal and allow many of the refugees who are needlessly languishing away in offshore detention centres, to be given an opportunity and the possibility to start a new life. In addition, we call upon you and your administration to exert your best possible influence on the Australian government to release the remaining refugees into the community and thus afford them an opportunity for a productive, safe and dignified life, so they can achieve their full potential as human beings.
Yours sincerely
Dr Lionel Bopage
President, Australian Advocacy for Good Governance in Sri Lanka, and
Convenor, Voice For Democracy in Sri Lanka
Melbourne, Australia
Mobile: +61 405 452 130
Email: lionel.bopage@gmail.com
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