A humanitarian crisis is unfolding on Manus Island following the closure of the Australian funded immigration detention centre on 31 October 2017. Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen is the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference spokesperson on asylum seekers and refugees. He made the following statement on 3 November. Bishop Long’s Statement… Read More »Manus Island Detainees Australia’s Responsibility says Bishop
In a 7 November 2016 statement Bishop Vincent Long calls on Australians to reject cruel refugee measures proposed by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Minister for Immigration, Peter Dutton. They intend to introduce legislation banning refugees and asylum seekers who have arrived in Australia by boat from 19 July 2013… Read More »Australian Bishop Blasts Cruel Refugee Measures
In a 13 October 2016 statement the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference calls on the Australian government to bring asylum seekers held on Nauru and Manus Island to Australia. Conference President, Archbishop Hart, got behind the Bring Them Here campaign: We endorse the campaign to Bring Them Here to Australia. We… Read More »Time to Bring Them Here Say Australian Bishops
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) has issued a statement urging Catholics to consider how they will vote in the Federal Election 2016. In it they pick up Pope Francis’ expression “thrown away people” highlighting the experiences of Indigenous Australians asylum seekers and refugees survivors of sexual abuse those who… Read More »Election 2016 – Australian Bishops Urge Vote for the Voiceless
Causes of Trafficking In a submission to the Australian Government’s Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference say that human trafficking and slavery are the terrible consequence of economic and social exclusion, where: • We don’t recognise the human dignity of each person, so people are… Read More »Trafficking Submission by Australian Bishops
Bishop Vincent Long responded on behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops to a High Court finding on 3 February 2016 that the offshore processing of the refugee status claims of asylum seekers is not contrary to Australian law. He called for compassion and mercy for families currently in Australia who… Read More »Protect Asylum Seekers say Australian Bishops