In the media
In the Courts
A refugee in detention filed a High Court claim arguing the Department of Home Affairs has breached its duty of care to provide conditions that enable him to protect himself from COVID-19. The refugee was transferred from Manus Island to Australia in 2019 and his case is reportedly the first of many. Around 1,400 people are held in detention centres or Alternative Places of Detention (APODs) in Australia.
The Federal Government was ordered to pay $200,000 in legal fees to the Biloela family. This followed a ruling that two-year old Tharunicaa was denied procedural fairness in her asylum bid. The family has again asked the government to release them from the Christmas Island Detention Centre as the mental health of the two girls declines.
The Federal Court overturned a tribunal finding that two men were not credible because of discrepancies in their recollections of what happened immediately after their first sexual encounter six years prior. Their asylum claim, which started in 2013, was returned to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for reconsideration.
The names of 400 protection applicants were accidentally published on the Federal Court website in what was described as a ‘major systemic failure.’
COVID-19
Protests occurred in detention locations around the country over COVID-19 concerns. In Sydney’s Villawood Detention Centre, three people were arrested after a rooftop protest and a further 35 reportedly staged a five-day hunger strike. In Melbourne a refugee activist was arrested and 26 others were fined for staging a car convoy protest during stage 3 restrictions.
Around 1,180 doctors have called for the release of immigration detainees who pose no significant security or health risks, as did the Australian Human Rights Commissioner. The Department of Home Affairs has stated that there have been no confirmed COVID-19 cases in detention locations and risk management strategies are in place.
In PNG and Nauru concerns were raised about COVID-19 risks to the 430 asylum seekers and refugees located there. Resettlement flights to the USA were suspended indefinitely. Canadian sponsorship applications continue to be assessed but flights are suspended.
Overseas
The UNHCR warned that border closures as a result of COVID-19 are placing fundamental norms of refugee and human rights law at risk, if no exceptions are made for people seeking asylum.
In Malaysia, a boat carrying Rohingya refugees was pushed back due to COVID-19 fears. In response, Indonesia’s representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission called on countries to show compassion during this time.
Malta declared it cannot cope with any arrival of asylum seekers due to the pandemic. It reportedly hired fishing boats to intercept and return any boats to Libya.
Bangladesh's coast guard rescued 396 Rohingya refugees who were adrift at sea for months, 32 were believed to have died. A human rights group said it believed more boats carrying Rohingya were adrift at sea, with COVID-19 lockdowns in Malaysia and Thailand making it harder to find refuge.
Greece commenced COVID-19 related relocations of unaccompanied asylum seeker children to Luxembourg in what was the first of more than 1,000 relocations to other EU countries. The overcrowding in refugee camps in the Greek Aegean islands has been identified as a risk during the pandemic.
Refugees and migrants have continued to arrive on the Italian island of Lampedusa, despite a government order to close domestic ports to international charity refugee boats during the pandemic. There is concern over rising tensions between groups on the island.
In policy
Asylum seekers have been excluded from the Commonwealth’s wage and other support packages put in place as a result of COVID-19. People on Bridging visas are ineligible for the Jobkeeper or Jobseeker program. The Federal Government urged people on temporary visas to return home.
A number of states and territories announced funding packages for asylum seekers and others on temporary visas to access essential goods and supports if experiencing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19.
The Commonwealth has not released people from immigration detention or APODs, despite its Health department identifying people in ‘detention facilities’ at most risk of serious infection. This policy decision has been criticised by medical experts.
In research
The UNSW’s Kaldor Centre launched COVID-19 Watch, an online hub that provides commentary and analysis on COVID-19 and displacement from refugees, scholars, practitioners and others, including articles impacting asylum seekers in Australia. This includes Kerry Murphy’s piece, which outlined some key issues impacting asylum seekers as a result of COVID-19 in Australia, including stalling visa processing, implications for SHEV holders, and immigration detention.
Elsewhere, Gabrielle Holly’s article examines recent litigation against the Australian government and the corporate contractors engaged in offshore detention, as well as actions seeking injunctions that require the Australian government to airlift detainees to Australia for medical treatment. Holly concludes that while features of the Australian jurisdiction can potentially provide a path to remedy for individuals who have suffered wrongs in Australia's offshore detention regime, they have not yet presented a serious challenge to current government policy.
A study amongst asylum seekers in onshore detention centres found this group are at increased risk of self-harm, and the type of detention they are held in may exacerbate this risk. The study found that self-harm rates for asylum seekers in all types of closed onshore immigration detention settings were much higher than rates found in the general population. Average rates were not lower in facilities with lower security features.