Australia has one of the most controversial immigration policies around—mandatory detention for everyone who enters without a visa. This means that if you seek asylum in the country, you’ll be automatically routed to a prison-like detention center for as long as it takes to process your claim (whether it’s months or years).

The cost of this policy has been enormous: thousands of unaccompanied children held away from their families and receiving no schooling, desperate refugees who resorted to taking their lives, and citizens held in wrongful detention for years. The Australian system has been condemned by the United Nations, Amnesty International, National Council of Churches, Public Health Association of Australia, and countless other human rights groups.

Recently, in response to the suicide of an Iraqi refugee denied asylum and held in detention indefinitely, detainees staged a protest by sewing their lips shut to demonstrate powerlessness. It seems to have attracted the attention of immigration authorities who are talking about reforming detention policies. But they have done this in the past—essentially, making empty promises but leaving the cruel policy as is. Tell the Australian government that this time around, the world is watching, and we’ll be holding them to their words.