Catholic Mission's advocacy
Catholic Mission's advocacy work for children aims to raise global issues of concern for children locally, and internationally at the United Nations forum.
Our current Advocacy campaign for children is aimed at ending immigration detention of children.
Catholic Mission has formed a coalition of Church and non-government organisations to support this initiative.
Catholic Mission also runs immersion programs with various Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in rural and remote areas to help build a better understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, traditions, culture, spirituality and history.
We especially support the work of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC)
endchilddetention.org
Catholic Mission has welcomed a statement from a group of UN human rights experts this week claiming that governments are not justified in placing children and families in immigration detention.
Marking International Migrants Day last Sunday, the group, which includes various human rights committee chairs and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, said despite the rhetoric and policies seeking to incriminate undocumented migrants, detention was not lawful under international human rights law.
"Every day, thousands of children – sometimes with families – are locked up in immigration detention in over one hundred countries around the world, including both developed and developing countries,” the statement read.
“Such an experience can be devastating for a child and is not a legitimate response under international human rights law."
As a lead organisation of the End Child Detention Coalition, Catholic Mission has praised the powerful statement.
“This authoritative statement by such an eminent group of experts is not only long-anticipated, it adds significant weight to an argument many, including Catholic Mission, have been making for years,” said Jenny Collins-White, Catholic Mission's education and advocacy manager.
“A major part of our advocacy program, which is intrinsically linked to the formation of Australians for mission, is centred on the message that children do not belong in immigration detention. The United Nations has unequivocally backed this claim and their clarion call has echoed around the world.”