The hunger strike underway on Manus Island must be taken seriously – by those directly managing the centre, by the Australian and PNG governments, and by us, ordinary people reading reports of it. The protesters have been detained with little or no progress on their refugee claims for 18 months. They have endured conditions which are, by all reports, woefully substandard. Detained asylum seekers are hunger striking not to speak to a bureaucrat, but to us – fellow human beings. The hunger strike makes visible their suffering, which is currently hidden behind razor wire and exclusion zones. The hunger strikers are asking us to see their suffering – their shared humanity – to connect with us on the basis of conscience and to ask ourselves if this is morally (rather than legally or politically) acceptable.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 09:32:01 +0000
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