Weekly media wrap - 6 June 2016

Immigration minister Peter Dutton said the government was not negotiating with Canadian officials, following media claims that a plan to resettle some refugees detained in Papua New Guinea and Nauru in Canada was being considered. Mr Dutton said talks had been held with many third countries in the hope of reaching an agreement quickly.

The Nauruan government decriminalised suicide and homosexuality to comply with international treaty obligations, following criticism from the United Nations and human rights groups. An Iranian asylum seeker was charged and sentenced for attempting suicide in Nauru last month.

On Manus Island, media reported that conflict had emerged between residents and newly released asylum seekers and refugees, with both locals and those newly arrived concerned for their safety.

A worker at Yonga Hill detention facility in Western Australia was suspended pending an investigation into claims he assaulted an asylum seeker. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection did not deny the claims, but would not reveal the number of other detention incidents referred to police in Australia.

The bodies of more than 100 asylum seekers washed up on the coast of Libya, likely from a boat that capsized on Wednesday. Hundreds more are believed to be missing from a separate capsizing off Crete. Italian authorities said 13,000 people were saved in the Mediterranean Sea in one week. Medecins San Frontieres reported that many of those who had reached Italy from Libya said smugglers had beaten or raped them. Warmer weather and the blocking of safer routes have been cited for the increase in crossing attempts and increase in tragedies.

Elsewhere in Europe, Dutch authorities reported an increase in people smuggler arrests, and the mayor of revealed plans to build an asylum seeker camp in the French capital. In Greece, two separate riots erupted between asylum seekers at detention camps on the islands of Lesbos and Samos.

Weekly media wrap - 30 May 2016

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce linked the ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia in 2011 with increased asylum seeker boat arrivals. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said ‘there is no link between the Indonesian Government and people smuggling, while praising the leadership of Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

On the election trail, Labor leader Bill Shorten announced that one of his first acts if elected Prime Minister would be to work with UNHCR to identify resettlement countries for the 2000 refugees in Nauru and Manus Island.

In Vietnam, a court has jailed four of 46 asylum seekers intercepted by the Australian government off the West Australian coast last year. A spokesman for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection stated that they were confident that Vietnam was upholding its agreement not to prosecute any of the returned asylum seekers on the grounds of illegal departure. A Human Rights Watch spokesperson said that Vietnam has ‘blatantly broken its promise to the Australian government not to prosecute boat returnees.’

In Cambodia, only one of five refugees transferred from Nauru remains in the country. In 2014, Cambodia agreed to take refugees in Nauru who had tried to reach Australia by boat in exchange for $40m dollars in aid. A Cambodian team will fly to Nauru next month to interview two more refugees who have volunteered for resettlement.

Europe’s largest makeshift refugee camp at Idomeni was shut down leaving over 4000 asylum seekers unaccounted for and 3000 to be transferred to new permanent refugee camps. Volunteers allowed in the new camps reported that they lack in basic amenities and unsafe to live in – an accusation refuted by Giorgos Kyritis, Greece’s migration spokesman, who stated there is ‘room to improve them’ but there is ‘water and electricity everywhere’.

Two boats carrying refugees capsized off the coast of Libya on Thursday and more than 4000 refugees were rescued in the course of 22 rescue missions by the Italian coastguard. 

Weekly media wrap - 23 May 2016

Immigration minister Peter Dutton said Australia faced the prospect of “illiterate and innumerate” refugees if it significantly increased its humanitarian intake. Mr. Dutton also said unemployment would rise in response to the Greens’ proposal to increase Australia’s intake to 50,000. The Labor Party has pledged to increase the intake from 13,750 to 27,000.

Mr Dutton’s comments were met with widespread criticism. High profile Today co-host Karl Stefanovic called on Mr Dutton to apologise, before espousing the historic contribution of previous waves of refugees to Australian society. Former Immigration Minister Chris Bowen also demanded an apology, however Prime Minister Turnbull and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop have defended Mr. Dutton and the Coalition’s record.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale outlined the Greens policy priorities under a post-election scenario where the Labor Party is forced to enter a power sharing arrangement to form government. “More decent and compassionate treatment of those people legitimately seeking asylum” is a key focus for the Greens. Election analysis suggests that increased focus on immigration is a potential weakness for the Labor party – ceding voters to the Greens in the inner city and the Coalition elsewhere.

Fairfax reported that Department of Immigration and Border Protection officials are under investigation for alleged assisting drug and tobacco smugglers with illegal importation. The Department has said they are ‘working actively with law enforcement partners to investigate allegations of serious criminality by its officers at the border’.

The Greek asylum service found that returning an asylum seeker to Turkey under the EU-Turkey deal was inconsistent with the Refugee Convention. Under the deal, asylum seekers who arrive by boat to Greece are returned to Turkey. The deal is controversial as Turkey has not lifted the geographical limits to the Convention and NGOs have reported that Turkey has returned Syrians in breach of the principle of non-refoulement.

At least 10,000 unaccompanied children are unaccounted for by European migration authorities according to a report published by the European Commission. The report suggests that increased irregular migrant flows raises the risk of children being sold in to sex slavery and otherwise exploited. 

Weekly media wrap - 18 April 2016

Nearly 29,000 asylum seekers remain on bridging visas in Australia waiting for a decision on their refugee status. The vast majority have been in the country since 2012 and 2013, when the number of asylum seekers arriving by boat peaked. Some do not have the right to work.  

In Nauru, Iranian refugee Sam Nemati, was arrested, charged and convicted for attempted suicide. Prosecutors sought jail time of between one and two months to ‘deter other would-be offenders who resort to self-harm to avoid lawful actions against them or to get what they want’. Mr Nemati was given a 12-month suspended sentence.

In Europe, Macedonian Police fired rubber bullets and used teargas on protesting crowds of asylum seekers on the Greek side of the Macedonia-Greek border, injuring dozens of people. Both the Greek government and UNHCR condemned the action as damaging to Europe’s image. Polish EU minister Konrad Szymanski announced Poland would be unable to take in the 7,000 asylum seekers it had promised to accept in September 2015. 

Weekly media wrap - 7 March 2016

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill called Manus Island detention centre a ‘problem’ that has done damage to his country’s international reputation. According to Mr O’Neill, the centre should eventually be shut down. Mr O’Neill added that the PNG government does not have the resources to resettle the refugees already on Manus Island, leaving their future uncertain.

In Australia, immigration minister Peter Dutton refused to release a 70 year-old Iranian woman from immigration detention who has been held for three years. According to doctors, she is experiencing both physical and psychological problems. Under the Migration Act, Mr Dutton has discretionary powers to grant or deny Bridging Visas and his decision is not subject to judicial review.

The Greens introduced a bill to the Senate that would require the government to house families with children in the community rather than an immigration detention facility. The bill seeks to amend the Migration Act 1958 and would apply retrospectively.

The United Nations refugee agency warned of an imminent humanitarian crisis as refugees and migrants continue to gather on the Greek-Macedonian border. Balkan countries and Austria have capped daily refugee intakes, as crowded conditions in first ports of call, such as Greece, have led to shortages of food, water and sanitation. 

Weekly media wrap - 11 January 2016

Nauru police launched an investigation into claims that a six year-old refugee was sexually assaulted. The father of the alleged victim, an Iranian refugee, said that the alleged perpetrator remains on Nauru and has not been taken into custody.

Documents obtained under freedom of information laws revealed that the 23 year-old asylum seeker known as Abyan, who was transferred from Nauru to Australia for an abortion, had not ruled out terminating her pregnancy before being sent back to Nauru, still pregnant. Abyan was flown back to Australia several weeks after her return to Nauru and remains in detention in Brisbane where she is receiving medical treatment.

In Papua New Guinea, the managers of the Manus Island detention centre were accused of flying an employee who allegedly robbed a local bar out of PNG to avoid the country's justice system.

In Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she wants to stem the flow of refugees into the European Union, while preserving freedom of movement. Mrs Merkel's statement comes as Sweden moved to drastically reduce its refugee intakes. Sweden has introduced a requirement that all arrivals from Denmark show photo ID. Meanwhile, Denmark has imposed ID checks on its southern border with Germany.

Turkish authorities found the bodies of 34 migrants on the Aegean coast after the migrants tried to cross to the Greek island of Lesbos.

Weekly media wrap - 24 August 2015

Inquiries into the Nauru detention centre dominated the week. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton continued to dismiss as “nonsense” allegations by an Australian whistleblower and ex-guard that a detainee at the Nauru detention centre was waterboarded, stating that he was ‘aware that there is legal action between Wilson and... a disgruntled employee and all these matters need to be put into context’.  

At a Senate committee hearing into allegations of abuse on Nauru, the whistleblower conceded that he had never seen the torture taking place. UNHCR regional representative Thomas Albrecht said that it was difficult to verify the claims because of the secrecy surrounding the centre's operations.

The Wilson Security guard who ordered up to eight guards at the Nauru detention center to spy on Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young while she was visiting the island has been called to appear before the Senate inquiry.

An asylum seeker allegedly raped at the Nauru detention centre was sent to Australia for treatment, three months after the alleged incident. Separately, an investigation undertaken by The Saturday Paper revealed a number of unreported incidents on Nauru, including the alleged rape and assault of refugees who have been resettled on the island.

On Manus Island, an asylum seeker on was forcibly returned to Iran notwithstanding an ongoing case challenging his detention in the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court.

A New Zealand parliamentary committee called for an increase to the country's refugee intake. New Zealand's current quota is 750 refugees per year, accepted through the UNHCR resettlement program.

Meanwhile, the UNHCR reported that the number of refugees and migrants who arrived in Greece last month was greater than the number for the whole of 2014. The influx has led to a stalemate at the Greek-Macedonian border, where over 2000 refugees are stranded after being stopped by police.

Read the Kaldor Centre's Weekly News Roundup.

Weekly media wrap 10 August 2015

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton announced 20 boats carrying more than 630 asylum seekers have been turned back since December 2013, with the most recent incident being the confirmed return of 46 asylum seekers to Vietnam last month.

A statement from the commander of Operation Sovereign Borders indicated that border officials had assisted asylum seekers in May 2015 when they had turned back a distressed boat whose crew was allegedly paid to return to Indonesia.  The statement was provided to a parliamentary committee investigating whether cash or other inducements were paid for boat turn-backs.

The Australian government has reportedly removed an undisclosed number of Iranian asylum seekers on bridging visas from their communities and returned them to detention facilities. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection said it was working to resolve cases of ‘failed asylum seekers’ currently living in communities.

The Papua New Guinea government has ordered a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to alcohol and drugs among staff at the Manus Island immigration detention centre, including regular substance testing. This comes after the alleged rape of a local woman who worked at the centre. The Australian immigration department has maintained that the Australian operator of the centre upholds strict drug and alcohol policy.

The Australian Government is expected to soon make a decision on a five-year contract for running detention centres on both Nauru and Manus Island, the ABC reports Transfield and Serco are being considered.

In an interim report released this week, the Australian Law Reform Commission suggested that a range of federal laws be reviewed in light of their potential interference with “traditional freedoms”. This has included law that extend the Australian government’s powers over asylum seekers who arrive by boat. 

UNHCR officials visited Greece this week to assess the refugee crisis. The number of refugees and migrants arriving by sea has risen by 750% in one year in this country, with 50,000 new arrivals having been reported in the month of July 2015. 

Read the Kaldor Centre's Weekly News Roundup.

Weekly media round-up No. 32

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison met with Cambodia’s Interior Minister Sar Kheng this week to discuss the possibility of resettling asylum seekers in Cambodia. The move was criticised by a member of the Cambodian Opposition party, Son Chhay, who said that the country should not be seen as a “dumping ground.”

The majority of asylum seekers on Manus Island have been interviewed for refugee status, with both the Australian and Papua New Guinean governments confirming that all those determined to be refugees will be resettled in PNG. An Iranian asylum seeker being assessed at the Manus Island detention centre is seeking to challenge Australia’s offshore processing policy before the High Court.

Meanwhile, the Abbott Government refused to release a report concerning details of the inquiry into the death of Reza Barati on Manus Island. The Australian Federal Police also declined to assist the interviewing of witnesses in relation to the death.

Asylum seekers at the Villawood detention centre in Sydney failed in a last minute legal bid to thwart an impending relocation to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. A group of more than 60 people gathered at Villawood to protest the transfer.

A report containing details of an internal review of Australian boat incursions into Indonesian waters was met with scrutiny by the Opposition and the Greens.  The report was censured for its lack of detail around the incidents that occurred under Operation Sovereign Borders.

Médecins Sans Frontières released a report detailing the harsh conditions facing asylum seekers living in detention in Greece.