In the media
In Court
The Federal Court heard a number of matters relating to asylum seekers in February. The full bench of the court ordered the government to provide funding so that a medically evacuated asylum seeker can secure sufficiently experienced legal representation in his unlawful detention case. This was in recognition that the case has ramifications for other medical evacuees in onshore detention.
In a similar matter, a judge warned that the government risks a finding of habeas corpus if the plaintiffs in question are not released, resettled or returned offshore by the next hearing date (on 3 March 2021). Meanwhile the government lost its appeal against the family from Biloela and was criticised for its communication with the family.
In detention
An asylum seeker who was transferred onshore in 2019 for medical reasons died of a heart attack. His death has prompted calls for better independent oversight of the medical attention given to people who have been subject to indefinite detention.
More than 200 health professionals signed a letter calling on the government to release families who have been detained in Darwin for more than a year. Melbourne City Council rejected a motion to intervene in the detention of asylum seekers in a city hotel. Instead, the council agreed to ensure that adequate services were being made available to the men. A refugee who has been in hotel detention for more than 18 months, following seven years in offshore detention, spoke out against their treatment.
The Department of Home Affairs extended a six month contract, totalling $221 million, for offshore detention services on Nauru. This equates to around $10,000 per person per day.
International
The coup in Myanmar has exacerbated the uncertainty facing displaced Rohingya people. Meanwhile, the Indian coastguard located a boat adrift at sea carrying 81 survivors and eight dead. All are Rohingyan people who departed Bangladesh on 11 February 2021.
Europe has received its lowest number of asylum applications in eight years due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions. In Greece, a woman who attempted suicide by self-immolation has been charged with arson. She had been granted refugee status with her family, but their onward travel to Germany had been postponed due to her advanced pregnancy.
The US government announced a restoration of funding to UNRWA (the UN agency responsible for humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees). However the deficit caused by sudden cessation of funding, under the previous government, has threatened UNRWA’s viability.
In policy
The Minister for Foreign Affairs made a statement to the United Nations in which she condemned arbitrary detention and asserted the need for all nations to comply with international law. Meanwhile independent MP Andrew Wilkie introduced a private members bill to end indefinite detention.
In research
Madeline Gleeson at the UNSW’s Kaldor Centre writes on the impact of COVID-19 on Australia’s role in responding to asylum seekers arriving by sea.
The Castan Centre for Human Rights Law and the Monash Migration and Inclusion Centre published a report examining the significance of the sudden economic and social crisis that COVID-19 presented, the vulnerabilities of migrants in the labour market and the need for policy responses that recognise Australia’s human rights obligations and target the intersecting causes of migrants’ precariousness.
A study into the impact of immigration detention on those who are employed to detain has culminated in an audio-visual exhibition called Agonistes.
Syrian refugees in four European countries were surveyed to explore the factors that contributed towards a sense of integration with the wider community. The study found language proficiency, age and whether people had any choice as to their country of refuge played a role in their integration.