The South African government claimed that Australia retracted its plans to fast-track visas to white South African farmers. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton denied that his offer of humanitarian support had been withdrawn and is reportedly considering ‘several’ applications.
Nauru ended a long standing agreement that allowed appeals to the High Court of Australia. The move will have a significant impact on asylum seekers held on Nauru, who will have ‘virtually no rights if rights of appeal to the high court are taken away’, according to human rights lawyer George Newhouse.
Humanitarian migrants from specified countries, including South Sudan, Somalia and Iran, were excluded from resettlement under Australia’s Community Support Program. Eight priority countries were determined for inclusion in the Program: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Bhutan, Syria and Iraq. Members of Australia’s South Sudanese community criticised the exclusion, citing discrimination.
Peter Dutton argued that the 1951 United Nations refugee convention is outdated and should be reviewed by ‘like-minded’ countries. He suggested that rather than countries accepting a ‘token’ number of displaced people, support should be given to international refugee camps. Madeline Gleeson, from the Kaldor Centre for International Law, argued that international support and resettlement were both critically important and that ‘one cannot replace the other’.
International advisors warned that the coming monsoon season could result in ‘enormous deaths’ among the 700,000 Rohingya currently living in refugee camps at Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. A repatriation deal between Myanmar and Bangladesh has been delayed, forcing a race against time to prepare new homes on a Bangladeshi island before the monsoons arrive.