In the media
Litigation
Around 100 people were released from immigration detention in the days leading up to Christmas. Lawyers believe the releases could be attributed to a Federal Court ruling that the threshold for a mandatory visa cancellation should not be based on cumulative sentences. The legality of Australia’s use of indefinite immigration detention will be challenged in court, in a case that could have implications for hundreds of people currently held.
Detention
A man who has spent 5 years in detention died by suspected suicide in Villawood Detention Centre. The latest Ombudsman report into immigration detention found that people’s concerns about maggots in the food were dismissed by Serco guards and that ‘holding cells’ with no toilet or running water were used for prolonged periods in Villawood detention centre, without any health assessment.
Nauru
A refugee remains on Nauru despite requiring urgent medical treatment and the fact that his family is now in Australia after their evacuation from Afghanistan. He was refused resettlement to Canada because Canada does not resettle people if it means they will be separated from their family. The US prison operator that now runs Australia’s operations in Nauru was accused of gross negligence. Senator McKim requested the auditor-general look into the due diligence that was undertaken to award the contract.
2002 Cabinet Papers
The release of the 2002 Cabinet Papers revealed that the Howard Government was warned that fast-tracking a detention centre on Christmas Island would risk human rights and OHS safeguards, and would be very expensive. It also revealed the Howard Government explored quietly bringing offshore detainees back to Australia.
Housing affordability
The spike in rent across Australia is acutely impacting asylum seekers because they are not entitled to any government assistance and many are in insecure work.
Afghanistan
An Afghan man, who came to Australia as a refugee, brought with him a hard drive containing thousands of photographs showcasing Afghanistan’s landscape and the Hazara culture. His work was featured in a UNSW Library online exhibition.
International
79 children in the UK as unaccompanied minors seeking asylum have disappeared, feared kidnapped, from the government provided accommodation. A Russian commander of the paramilitary Wagner Group claimed asylum in Norway.
In policy
At a Refugee Council of Australia event, the Immigration Minister took questions from the audience on a range of policy topics. The government announced that 19,000 people on Temporary Protection and Safe Haven visas will be granted permanent residence. The fate of an additional 12,000 people in the so-called ‘legacy caseload’ remains unclear. Attorney-General Dreyfus said action will be taken to end the ‘inhumanity’ of Australia’s refugee policy.
In research
The latest European Journal of International Law includes an analysis of whether, in light of Taliban policy, all Afghan women and girls should be recognised as refugees.
Human Rights Watch 2022 World Report detailed Australia’s human rights failures when it comes to asylum seeker policy, the treatment of indigenous people in prison and the laws governing protests. Volume 4 of The Statelessness and Citizenship Review was published in December.
New releases
Map of Hope and Sorrow: Stories of Refugees Trapped in Greece, a book by Helen Benedict and Eyad Awwadawnan, published by Footnote Press.