Weekly media wrap - 8 February 2016

In a majority decision, the High Court rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of Australia’s offshore processing system brought against by a Bangladeshi refugee. The decision upholds the government’s policy of returning 267 refugees to Nauru. Reporting pointed to changes to the Migration Act in June 2015 which undermined the challenge, and more recently, the Nauruan government’s decision to create an open centre.

In response to the court decision, a series of protests under the banner ‘Let Them Stay’ were held. Churches offered sanctuary to those who may be transferred offshore. Sanctuary is a common law principle yet to be tested under the Australian judicial system, which would provide protection against civil authorities. 

A medical team led by the Australian Human Rights Commission found that 95 per cent of children detained at Nauru are at risk of developing post traumatic stress disorder and recommended that children not be sent back to Nauru.

A government document prepared by the National Security Committee planning reforms of Australia’s immigration policy was leaked. The document showed plans to ‘create stronger controls over access to permanent residency and citizenship’.

The UNCHR estimated that 62,000 refugees crossed the Mediterranean in January 2016, sixteen times more than the 5,500 recorded in January 2015. Meanwhile, the EU called on Turkey to re-open its borders to Syrians fleeing fighting in Aleppo. It is estimated that 35,000 asylum seekers are currently trapped at the border.

Weekly media wrap 20 April

At least 800 people died in the Mediterranean Sea when a boat capsized off the coast of Libya. More than 7000 people were rescued from boats in a four day period over last weekend. In response, UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants François Crépeau called for a global humanitarian plan to resettle refugees and regulate migrant mobility.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop invited Iranian officials to visit Australia to continue discussions about taking back failed asylum seekers, after being unable to reach agreement during her recent visit to Tehran.

The West Australian reported Australia is transferring almost 50 Vietnamese asylum seekers back to Vietnam from a vessel that was intercepted north of Australia earlier this month. A spokesperson for immigration minister Peter Dutton said no comment would be made on ‘operational matters’. Human rights groups have criticised the government for returning the asylum seekers Vietnam, where they may face persecution.

The ABC reported that a fact sheet about life in Cambodia was distributed to refugees in Nauru, with expectations that the first transfer of refugees between the two countries will happen next week.

The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) put forward a submission disputing a migration amendment bill to allow immigration officers to use ‘reasonable force against any person’ if the officer believed it was exercised ‘in good faith’.

In Darwin, there was a disturbance at the Wickham Point detention centre, where a spokesperson from the Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network said he had been told there were 25 self-harm attempts. A spokesperson for Mr Dutton said reports from refugee advocacy groups were ‘wildly exaggerated and inaccurate’, but confirmed there had been a disturbance.

An Australian National Audit Office report has recommended that interpreters who are deployed to immigration detention centres should be given resilience training so that they can prepare for the “challenging and hazardous” conditions of the facilities.

Weekly media wrap - 23 February

The Federal Government announced that four Sri Lankan asylum seekers were handed over to Sri Lankan authorities earlier this month. The men were determined not to be refugees after their boat was intercepted off the coast of the Cocos Islands. This interception is the first occurrence of on-water processing and transfer since the High Court ruled in January that offshore operations such as this are legal. Critics expressed concern about interceptions at sea and the quality of screening processes being undertaken when on water.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton visited Nauru to reaffirm the Australian Government’s bilateral agreement with the island nation to resettle Australian-bound refugees. Formal visit proceedings were disrupted by refugees protesting Australian asylum policy. Minister Dutton announced an open centre arrangement where selected asylum seekers would have more flexibility in coming and going from the Nauru detention centre within agreed times. Minister Dutton confirmed that 512 asylum seekers have been granted refugee status and 400 had been resettled in Nauru.

The anniversary of the death of Iranian Reza Barati was acknowledged and remembered on social media by thousands. Barati was killed one year ago on Manus Island during the rioting in the immigration detention centre.

An open letter to the Prime Minister Tony Abbott, signed by 50 prominent Australians, expressed support for the Human Rights Commission’s Forgotten Children report and concern about the personal attacks on the Commission's President Gillian Triggs.

More than 2,100 migrants were rescued 160kms off the coast of Italian island Lampedusa by Italian and Maltese rescue vessels. 

Weekly media wrap - 16 February

The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) called for a Royal Commission into the policy of holding children in immigration detention, following the government’s release of its The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention report. The report found more than a third of children in detention in the first half of 2014 had serious mental health disorders. It found more than 300 children committed or threatened self-harm in a 15-month period, 30 reported sexual assault, nearly 30 went on hunger strike and more than 200 were involved in assaults.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott criticised the report as ‘a blatantly partisan politicised exercise’, questioning ‘where was the Human Rights commission when hundreds of people were drowning at sea?’ Professor Triggs said she made the decision to hold the inquiry last February because the release of children had slowed down over the first six months of the new Coalition Government.  

The government announced there would not be a Royal Commission into children in detention.

 More than 200 Australian organisations (including Asylum Insight) signed a letter calling on parliament to stop holding children in immigration detention.

Meanwhile, it emerged through Fairfax media that the government had sought the resignation of AHRC president, Professor Gillian Triggs.

The High Court ordered that the Immigration Minister grant a permanent protection visa to a Pakistani refugee. It unanimously found the decision by former Immigration Minister Scott Morrison not to grant the visa on national interest grounds because the man was an unauthorised maritime arrival was illegal.

Around 300 people were feared drowned after four people-smuggling boats sank in the Mediterranean. Twenty-nine people died of hypothermia aboard Italian coastguard vessels after being picked up from a boat adrift near Libya. 

Weekly media round-up No. 52

Papa New Guinean police charged two men with murder for the death of Reza Barati on Manus Island, with the search continuing for three more people believed to be involved. Two of the suspects who have not yet been located are said to be expatriates, however the Australian Federal Police indicated they have not received any requests from their PNG counterparts to investigate.

Immigration minister Scott Morrison claimed that detaining asylum seeker children was a ‘consequence’ of offshore processing policy at the Australian Human Right Commission’s inquiry into children in detention. Mr Morrison stated at the inquiry that children in detention who arrived after 19 July 2013 could not be released into the community without a temporary protection visa. This follows the government’s announcement children under ten and their families will be released into the community on bridging visas.

The Age reported a mental health ‘crisis’ at the Christmas Island detention centre, with one staff member attempting suicide and another a risk of self-harm. The Guardian Australia revealed strategies employed by the immigration department to return asylum seekers from Syria back to the country.

Refugee advocates challenged the legality of the government’s month-long detention of 157 Tamil asylum seekers on a customs vessel, with a court hearing set for October, possibly including United Nations involvement. Meanwhile, the Cambodian opposition leader disclosed the Australian Government’s plan to resettle refugees on a remote island off the coast of Cambodia.

A boat carrying 200 migrants sank off the coast of Libya, with majority of the passengers feared dead.

Weekly media round-up No. 49

An Australian Human Rights Commission inquiry in to the health and wellbeing of children in immigration detention continued this week.

Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection Martin Bowles told the inquiry the number of children in detention has fallen from 1330 in July 2013 to 659 in July 2014. The inquiry heard evidence from Dr Peter Young that the immigration department requested the withdrawal of evidence of mental health concerns among young detainees. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison rejected this claim. The inquiry also heard evidence that the department chose ‘young looking’ detainees for offshore transfer, because of the enhanced deterrent effect on prospective arrivals.

One hundred and fifty-seven Tamil asylum seekers were moved from Curtin detention centre to Nauru. Mr Morrison returned from India after securing an agreement from officials to repatriate Indian nationals, and consider the claims of Sri Lankan nationals. Detainees rejected the offer to be assessed by Indian officials. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young attempted to visit the detainees, but was denied access. Lawyers for the asylum seekers say they were not given adequate access to their clients before their transfer to Nauru. The relocation cuts short a High Court challenge to the processing of asylum seekers at sea.

Fifteen asylum seeker youths in community detention in Adelaide have fled fearing a return to custody. A Church-sponsored report called for the appointment of an independent guardian for children in detention. The position of immigration minister as guardian is untenable, the report argues, given he is ‘also tasked with being their judge and jailer’.

Weekly media round-up No. 33

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison this week defended a possible arrangement with Cambodia to resettle asylum seekers to Australia. His visit to Phnom Penh follows a trip by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop earlier this year.

Asylum seekers will be able to settle temporarily in Nauru if found to be refugees with 60 per cent of claims for refuges status expected to be finalised within a month. Meanwhile, Australian Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs, head of the Australian Human rights Commission, has urged the Abbott Government to release children from detention. She also accused the government of orchestrating the denial of UN inspectors access to offshore processing centres on Nauru and Manus Island. Scott Morrison has rejected the claim.

The release of Bob’s Carr’s autobiography reveals his support for Kevin Rudd’s PNG solution, as well as his efforts to convince Julia Gillard to support Tony Abbott’s asylum policies upon entering federal parliament in 2012. Former Labor frontbencher Melissa Parke has urged the Opposition to soften its asylum policy following a poor result in the Western Australian upper house election re-run.

The Federal Court found that a refugee who spat at a guard and damaged property was denied procedural fairness in having his refugee status refused. A Sri Lankan asylum seeker has self-immolated and is fighting for his life in a Sydney hospital.

Charges against protesters that held a prayer vigil in the Sydney offices of Immigration Minister Scott Morrison have been dropped. Walk for Justice for Refugees rallies were held around the country on Palm Sunday.

Weekly media round-up No. 31

29 March marked 100 days since an asylum seeker boat reached Australia. An estimated eight boats have been turned back to Indonesia in that time.

The Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee found it may not be possible for boats to be turned around safely without the risk of Australian naval vessels crossing into Indonesian waters. The Committee reported on six incursions into Indonesian waters between December 1 and January 20.

ABC’s 7.30 aired new witness statements alleging Australian personnel purposely inflicted burns on the hands of three men on an asylum-seeking boat in January. The Australian Government maintained the claims are baseless and attacked the ABC’s ‘recycling’ of the story.

Children held in detention in Australia described conditions as ‘hell’. The Australian Human Rights Commission is conducting the inquiry into children in immigration detention in Australia. The Commission made its first visit to children in detention on Christmas Island this week.

The UN refugee agency Asylum Trends 2013 report says there was a sharp rise in asylum claims in 44 industrialised countries last year, driven primarily by the crisis in Syria. According to UNHCR, 612,700 people applied for asylum in North America, Europe, East Asia and the Pacific last year - the highest total for any year since 2001. UNHCR reported (p 6) an increase of 54 per cent (24,300) in asylum applications in Australia compared to 2012 (15,800).

According to the European Union, nearly half a million people sought asylum in Europe last year, the most in two decades. The largest number came from Syria. In total, 434,160 people sought protection in the EU's 28 member states in 2013, an increase of nearly 30 per cent from 2012 when there were 335,000 applications.