In the media
Courts
The Federal Court warned Minister Dutton and Minister Tudge that they would be held in contempt of court if they continued to defy a court ruling that a man’s protection claim should be decided “shortly”. The court stated that the Department of Home Affairs’ refusal to decide the man’s claim was “contrary to law”. The situation was detailed in an opinion piece by the principal solicitor in the case.
A former security guard on Manus Island reached an out of court settlement with the Australian Government on a case alleging psychological trauma as a result of the 2014 riots at the detention centre, where one person was killed and 77 injured. His case was to argue that the government and the security contractor, G4S, failed to provide adequate protective equipment and training in the lead up to the riot.
Detention
CNN published a long-form report on Australia’s use of hotels to detain people who were medically evacuated from PNG and Nauru. One of the hotels, in Brisbane, was the site of regular protests through June that culminated in a blockade. Protestors sought to prevent the transfer of men to Brisbane’s immigration detention centre by searching vehicles that entered and exited the hotel site. Some organisers were arrested, but charges were later dropped. Dozens more were arrested in the third weekend of protests.
In Sydney a planned rally went ahead despite a court-ordered ban due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Wollongong an indefinite sleep-out to protest the indefinite detention of asylum seekers reached a 300 night milestone. Doctors say they will continue the sleep-out until the indefinite detention of asylum seekers ends.
In Melbourne protestors were arrested after they locked themselves in a cage on the roof of a cafe co-located with a hotel where people have been detained since last year. Earlier in the month a rally was split across different locations to get around bans on large gatherings.
The Saturday Paper reported on the plight of asylum seekers who cannot access Australia’s COVID-19 support packages and featured a story of a father and son who are the last family on Nauru.
Twenty-eight refugees were resettled in the US this month under the agreement reached with the previous US administration.
International
Some nations are anticipating an exodus of people from Hong Kong as China pursues legislation that would permit its security agencies to be deployed in Hong Kong. Dozens of student protestors have claimed asylum in Australia, and Britain has asked countries in the Five Eyes network, which includes Australia, to join them in offering sanctuary.
The predicament of Rohingya people who have been stranded at sea since February continued. Around 22 boats have been turned back or forced back to open waters, smugglers have reportedly demanded payments from the family members of those on board the boats that are at sea, and in one instance around 270 people on board a damaged trawler were taken into custody by Malaysian authorities. Indonesian villagers took it upon themselves to rescue 94 Rohingya people from their stricken boat after authorities refused to assist.
In Greece locals have reported a new phenomenon where boats arrive with people on board who vanish soon after landing, with authorities claiming that the boats were empty. Locals believe that people are being returned to their point of departure; a contravention of international law.
In policy
The Senate’s Legal and Social Issues Committee is examining a bill proposed by the Federal Government that would allow a ban on mobile phones in onshore immigration detention centres, to stop drug and contraband items circulating in the facilities. The bill would also expand guards’ powers to conduct searches. The Committee received evidence from organisations such as UNHCR, the Australian Medical Association, the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law and Serco. While Serco is supportive of the amendments, other organisations raised concerns for the potential damage to refugees’ mental health and the potential for a constitutional challenge because of the bill’s effect on freedom of expression.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman committed to publishing their monitoring reports into the implementation of COVID-19 protocols at immigration detention centres. The report was due for release in June.
In research
The UNHCR released its 2019 annual Global Trends report, presenting a range of findings. At the end of 2019, the UNHCR reported a total of 79.5 million people around the world had been forcibly displaced, up from 70.8 million the year before. Of this, 45.7 million are internally displaced people and 4.2 million are asylum seekers.
A study into the reporting of self-harm incidents among asylum seekers (held onshore and offshore) highlights a number of reporting and systems failures. The study analysed 949 self-harm incident reports from 1 August 2014 to 31 July 2015. Its findings included (i) low rates of recording the medical severity of the self-harm, (ii) a widespread failure to record who saw the person following the incident, and (iii) a failure to record whether or not psychosocial assessment was provided. The study recommends data recording changes that would ensure better compliance with WHO standards and the introduction of an independent monitoring mechanism for self-harm incidents among asylum seekers that are held onshore and offshore.
In her article, Jenny Poon challenges the argument that non-refoulement obligations do not apply unless and until an individual is within the territory of a state and that formal asylum procedures seeking refugee status have commenced. Poon’s article argues that regardless of the proximity of an individual to the border or territory of a state or the individual’s legal status, states have responsibility for complying with non-refoulement obligations, including when on the high seas.