In the media
In Court
Two cases commenced in the courts that could have implications for people who are or were in immigration detention. One is the appeal of a landmark habeas corpus ruling against the government. In the other, a man is suing the government for the mental ill-health he alleges was caused by his five years in detention. Refugees detained in a hotel in Darwin commenced proceedings against the government for false imprisonment and negligence. The Federal Court overturned a finding of unlawful conduct against former Immigration Minister Alan Tudge. Meanwhile Defence Minister Peter Dutton commenced defamation proceedings against a refugee advocate.
In Detention
The owner of the Brisbane hotel where asylum seeker men were formerly detained took legal action against the tenant for damages, failure to disclose how the hotel was being used and undertaking works without permission. The men were relocated to detention in Brisbane and Melbourne. Senator Kristina Keneally resorted to a commercial flight to Christmas Island after the Defence Minister revoked access to a RAAF plane for a scheduled Senate Committee tour. The Senator visited the family of four who remain in detention on Christmas Island.
Offshore
A gang reportedly attacked a compound in Port Moresby where refugees are housed.
In Community
A Hazara man who came to Australia by boat hopes to be selected for the Refugee Olympics Team in Tokyo.
International
The UNHCR published a data series showing how climate change is exacerbating the pre-existing factors behind forced displacement, such as political instability, conflicts over resources and poverty. Evidence was presented in court showing Italy knew that Libya routinely ignored their requests for assistance to boats stranded at sea. Hundreds of asylum seekers and migrants drowned as a result, and the frequency of deaths off the Libyan coast continues. The South African government gave refugees camped in Cape Town a two-week ultimatum – voluntary repatriation with IOM and UNHCR assistance, or local integration. Meanwhile around 2,000 people fled into Chad after renewed conflict erupted in the Central African Republic.
A German court has heard that a right-wing extremist group planned to attack asylum seekers, Muslim people and politicians in an effort to destroy democracy. Canada’s practice of turning back asylum seekers who arrive via the USA has been declared lawful. Mexico has experienced a dramatic increase in the number of asylum applications lodged compared to the same time last year.
In policy
People who came to Australia by boat before August 2012 and have since secured permanent residency are given the lowest priority in the processing of family reunion applications (for their spouses and children). Some have been waiting for more than 10 years to be reunited with their family. Australia’s systematic separation of family of those who seek asylum was detailed in the Human Rights Law Centre’s ‘Together in Safety’ report.
Despite no new arrivals on Nauru since 2014 and a significant reduction in the number of asylum seekers and refugees who remain there, data shows that a Brisbane company (Canstruct) has received $1.4 billion in funding for garrison services from 2017 to 2021. Meanwhile some who were released from many years in onshore and offshore detention continue to have nightmares about their experience.
In research
Using the example of a 2015 Australian Government telemovie, a study analysed the gendered dimension of public information campaigns aimed at dissuading people from attempting to enter a country for protection.
New releases
Still Alive – a new visual novel by Safdar Ahmed, an artist who ran an art project in the Villawood Detention Centre (Sydney).