Immigration minister Peter Dutton stated that approximately 200 asylum seekers held at the Manus Island detention centre will be moved to an ‘alternative place of detention’ in Papua New Guinea after 31 October. This will include those whose refugee status applications have been denied, and those from countries to which they cannot be forcefully deported.
Dutton also introduced a bill to Parliament on Wednesday that would see phones and other items deemed to pose a ‘risk’ prohibited inside detention centres. This comes after a February Federal Court injunction that stopped immigration officers confiscating detainees’ mobile phones.
An Afghan asylum seeker will have his case reviewed after the full Federal Court found that the Refugee Review Tribunal (now known as the Administrative Appeals Tribunal) had denied the man a protection visa on the basis of incorrect facts. The Court heard evidence that the tribunal used templates, or cut and pasted paragraphs from other asylum seeker applications, in its determination of the man’s case. It is believed that this practice has occurred on several occasions.
The NSW Supreme Court rejected the legal case filed by eight families of asylum seekers who were killed and injured when their boat smashed into Christmas Island in December 2010. The families had argued that the government failed to fulfil its duty of care by intercepting arrivals.