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 - 21 March 2016

The Australian Parliamentary Budget Office found the government would save 2.9 billion dollars over four years if it adopted the Greens’ policy to shut down detention centres and bring asylum seekers to the mainland for processing in the community. It warned, however, that the policy change could alter numbers of asylum seekers arriving by boat, and therefore the potential savings.

Indonesian foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, expressed the hope that Australia and other countries would assist in resettling refugees in Indonesia. There are currently around 14,000 asylum seekers and refugees in transit in the country, but Indonesia says it lacks the capacity to provide long-term solutions. The statement came in the leadup to this week’s Bali Process Ministerial Conference, a regional forum co-chaired by Indonesia and Australia.

In a visit to Australia, Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to negotiate a deal which would see Iranian asylum seekers whose refugee claims are rejected repatriated to Iran. The opposition insisted that safeguards be in place to ensure the safety of those returned.

Asylum seekers arriving in Greece will be sent back to Turkey in a deal agreed upon by EU leaders. In return for taking refugees, Turkey can expect ‘reenergised’ talks on its EU membership and 3 billion euros to aid resettlement. UNHCR stated the deal breaches the rights of asylum seekers under European and international law.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Flippo Grandi announced he will chair a meeting on March 30 to ask the international community to take 10 per cent of all Syrian Refugees. He stated that this did not require full resettlement for the 400,000 refugees, but that some countries could offer temporary jobs, scholarships or humanitarian visas to ease the pressure on neighbouring countries. Four million Syrians have fled the country since the civil war began five years ago.

Weekly media wrap - 14 March 2016

Australian authorities intercepted a boat carrying six Bangladeshis and two alleged people smugglers  and transferred the passengers to an Indonesian fishing vessel for their return to that country. Indonesia’s foreign ministry said it does not support for Australia’s policy on turning back boats, and indicated a potential straining of bilateral relations between the two countries.

Recently released documents show that between December 2014 and January 2014, Australian maritime patrols unintentionally entered Indonesian territorial waters six times when turning back 13 boats. Australia later apologies for the incursions into Indonesian sovereign waters.

Iranian foreign affairs minister, Dr Mohammad Javad Zarif, is visiting Australia next week to discuss a possible deal for Iranian asylum seekers in Australia. Negotiations are likely to focus on allowing forcible removal of Iranians who are found not to be refugees, in exchange for guarantees that this group would not face persecution or punishment. Iranian asylum seekers represent a significant proportion of the ‘legacy caseload’ of 29,000 asylum seekers in Australia.

The office of the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, confirmed that two of the five refugees who were transferred to Cambodia have returned to their home country. The Australian Government has committed to maintaining the $55 million cost of the deal with Cambodia, regardless of the number of refugees that are resettled, and has spent an additional $2 million in resettlement costs under this agreement.  

In Australia, churches held ‘sanctuary training’ with instructions on peaceful resistance towards authorities who forcibly remove asylum seekers, as part of the #LetThemStay campaign. Senior staff of Australia’s largest asylum seeker service, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, have left the organisation, with claims of a toxic work environment and bullying, and concerns for the safety and wellbeing of staff.

A recent University of Melbourne study showed that amongst their focus groups, the most important driver of negative attitudes towards asylum seekers was ‘religious prejudice’ and concern for the  ‘Islamisation’ of Australia. The research concluded that more constructive public debate on issues related to asylum seekers was needed, to build knowledge and correct misconceptions.

At an emergency summit in Brussels, Turkey offered to take back all asylum seekers who cross into Europe through their soil as well as those intercepted in its territorial waters, effectively slowing the entrance of asylum seekers into Europe. European Union leaders have welcomed this proposal, and recognised this as a potential breakthrough in Europe’s refugee crisis. The UNHCR has distanced itself from the proposal. Meanwhile, the route used by asylum seekers to move from Greece to northern Europe has been blocked after Balkan countries Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia and Macedonia each closed their borders.

Weekly media wrap - 1 December 2015

The government refused to discuss the whereabouts of an asylum seeker boat which came within 200 metres of Christmas Island last week. The group of 16 asylum seekers were found stranded at sea near the town of Tabolong, on the western tip of West Timor, Indonesia. It is not clear whether the passengers on the boat made asylum claims, or whether any claims were assessed on board.

Also in Indonesia, two asylum seekers told an Indonesian court they witnessed Australian authorities paying the crew of their boat a cash payment in June 2015, before escorting them back to Indonesian waters.

An Iranian asylum seeker on Nauru protested to draw attention to the condition of the 95 children in detention on the island. See more statistics at Asylum Insight’s statistics page. Earlier in the week, the Australian Senate passed a bill calling for all children to be released from detention.

Germany will begin to deport asylum seekers from the Western Balkans whose applications for asylum have been unsuccessful. Balkan countries have imposed stricter border controls, allowing only Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan asylum seekers to pass through from Greece. The controls have been met with violent protests from asylum seekers on the Greek side of the border. The UN has warned of humanitarian problems as restrictions chiefly involve people being profiled on the basis of their alleged nationalities

Read the Kaldor Centre weekly news roundup.

Weekly media wrap - 23 November 2015

A boat carrying asylum seekers was intercepted 200 metres from Christmas Island. Unconfirmed reports indicate the boat was towed by an Australian navy patrol boat out to sea. This boat was the first to reach Australian waters since June 2014. It is not yet known where the boat departed from.

In Indonesia, The Jakata Post reported that Coordinating Minister for political, legal and security affairs, Luhut Panjaitan, had suggested offering an island as a temporary refugee camp. However Mr Panjaitan has denied offering Australia an island to temporarily house refugees and asylum seekers.

In Europe, investigations into the terror attacks in Paris continue, with reports that a passport issued to a Syrian asylum seeker was found at the scene of one of the attack sites. In response to the events in Paris, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees has made a statement “cautioning against the scapegoating of refugees”, reiterating the importance of preserving the integrity of the asylum system and acknowledging that the overwhelming majority of people coming to Europe are fleeing persecution.

In the wake of the recent terror attacks in Paris, concern was raised about Australia’s acceptance of refugees, and in particular this new intake of 12,000 refugees from Syria and Iraq. Australia’s Immigration Minister Peter Dutton rejected the call from a New South Wales State Government MP to stop accepting refugees from the Middle East and to close Australia’s borders, and indicated a continuation of existing border protection policies. A Syrian family of five arrived in Perth. This family is part of the first group of 200 selected Syrians to be the first of the 12,000 refugees to be resettled in Australia.

Weekly media wrap - 21 September 2015

Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbot as Prime Minister after a leadership ballot. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton retained his position in the cabinet reshuffle despite earlier in the week having offered to resign. The Indonesian government welcomed the leadership change, suggesting an opportunity to improve diplomatic relations with the new government.

The Turnbull Government consulted with the Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council on the mechanics of settling 12,000 Syrian refugees expected to arrive in Australia between now and the end of the year.  The majority of the extra refugees are expected to be resettled in Sydney and Melbourne, where the bulk of Australia's Syrian community lives.

The federal court found that the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s investigation in to a data breach which published the details of almost 10,000 asylum seekers, was designed to fail.  The court said the immigration department responded to the data in a way that was ‘unfair to a significant degree’ and had not provided procedural fairness to asylum seekers affected.

An Afghan refugee who had his visa cancelled due to child pornography convictions set himself alight at a West Australian immigration detention centre after previous bids to end his own life.

The refugee crisis in Europe continues as Hungary closed the border between Serbia and Hungary. The UNHCR has again called for European Union member states to reach agreement on a plan to relocate up to 120,000 refugees.

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 wrap 22 June

The Australian government continued to refuse to confirm or deny allegations that immigration and border protection officials paid people smugglers to return asylum seekers to Indonesia. Despite suggestions that this alleged payment to people smugglers may have broken Australian and international law, Prime Minister Tony Abbott stated that he is ‘absolutely confident that at all times Australian agencies have acted within the law’.

Following an Indonesian police investigation, with reports that more than US$30,000 was paid to the smugglers, foreign minister Retno Marsudi requested clarification from the Australian government, stating that ‘in the context we cannot be blamed for believing that there was an illicit payment made on this issue’.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Tanya Plibersek, called for the government to provide a full explanation to Indonesia, arguing that ‘it is absolutely vital… to get this relationship back on track.  A Greens motion in the Senate to compel the government to hand over documents relating to these allegations was rejected on the grounds of national security.

Australia's peak health professional bodies released a joint statement calling for urgent amendments to the Australian Border Force Act 2015. The statement criticised the Act's secrecy provisions, which threaten up to two years imprisonment for sharing information about conditions at immigration detention centres. The statement says that the Act ‘actively restricts health professionals from fulfilling their duty to advocate for the best possible patient care’. 

The senate inquiry investigating conditions at the detention centre on Nauru heard from a former Save the Children case manager. The submission included reports of sexual assault and alleged that sexual encounters ‘had been filmed and circulated’ among security staff at the centre.

The UNHCR released an annual Global Trends Report: World at War, stating that displacement was at its highest level in recorded history, with 59.5 million people forcibly displaced at the end of 2014.

Read the Kaldor Centre's Weekly News Roundup

Weekly media wrap 15 June

Allegations have emerged that Australian immigration and border protection officials paid people smugglers to turn back boats from Indonesia carrying asylum seekers. The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, and the foreign minister, Julie Bishop, denied the allegations, however Prime Minister Tony Abbott has refused to deny them.

A senate inquiry into conditions in immigration detention on Nauru heard from former International Health and Medical Services mental health director, Peter Young, that the immigration department regularly interfered with medical assessments of asylum seekers. The inquiry also received written submissions from former Save the Children employee, Viktoria Vibhakar, detailing cases of sexual and physical abuse of asylum seekers’ children as young as two.

Meanwhile, the immigration department has confirmed Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young was spied on during her visit to Nauru by at least one Wilson Security officer.

In international news, the UNHCR has reported that the number of refugee and migrant arrivals to Europe across the Mediterranean in 2015 has reached more than 100,000.

Weekly media wrap 8 June

Cambodia received four asylum seekers from Australia transferred from Nauru as part of a Memorandum of Understanding that will see Cambodia receive $40 million over the next four years. Human Rights Watch said the deal will ‘have a harshly negative impact on protection of refugees throughout the region.’

The Nauruan government asked Australia for a specialist medical team to treat and 11-year old refugee with a badly broken arm. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection planned to send the boy to India for treatment. The Commonwealth and Immigration Ombudsman released a report which showed that asylum seekers, are spending nearly five years in Australian immigration detention.

The recently passed Australian Border Force Act provides that doctors and teachers working in immigration detention facilities could face up to two years in prison if they speak out against conditions in the centres or provide information to journalists. The Australian Medical Association, constitutional lawyers and Doctors for Refugees criticised the Act.

Australian authorities allegedly turned back a boat carrying 65 asylum seekers headed for New Zealand after it crashed into a reef in Indonesia. The asylum seekers have since been detained in West Timor, Indonesia.

Weekly media wrap 25 May

Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to resettle several thousand Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees. Thus far 3600 refugees have come ashore in the three nations. Naval vessels from Myanmar and Malaysia will be joined by the US navy in the ongoing search for the estimated 3000 refugees who remain at sea. Despite calls for Australia to more robustly address the crisis, Australia remains opposed to providing assistance. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Indonesian officials told her that the refugees are mostly ‘illegal labourers’.

A Senate hearing received testimony that security guards and service providers sexually abused refugees in the Nauru detention centre.

The Cambodia Government approved transfer of four asylum seekers from Nauru. This is the first transfer associated with the $40 million tied aid grant provided to Cambodia last year.

Police discovered several mass graves of suspected migrants near the border of Malaysia and Thailand.  The graves are believed to be linked to human trafficking operations.

An EU plan to distribute migrants across Europe on the basis of national capacity has been criticised by several Western European nations. The plan appears unlikely to gain the support necessary for implementation.

Weekly media wrap - 11 January 2015

The group of 50 men on Manus Island with approved refugee applications are being prepared to move from detention to temporary accommodation at the Lorengau transit centre and then into the PNG community. They were told they would be treated like the local Papua New Guineans, but detainees are resisting this move for fear of violence from locals.

An Iranian asylum seeker who went without food for 51 days in the Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre in Northern Territory during late 2014 has resumed his hunger strike. 

A teenage boy who was crew on an asylum seeker boat that arrived nearly two years ago will return home to Indonesia next week. He and another teenage boy have been kept in detention since their arrival, despite a government policy not to prosecute Indonesian children found on the boats. The second boy has also been released on parole and put in immigration detention.

Figures provided to Fairfax Media indicate that ten refugees have been released into the community since August 2014, after ASIO reversed their decisions that the refugees were threats to national security.

Prime Minister Abbott congratulated the new Sri Lankan president-elect Maithripala Sirisena and emphasised the two countries’ cooperation on addressing people smuggling and other issues.

Lebanon turned back Syrians attempting to cross the border under new visa regulations, which limit the amount of time they can stay in Lebanon. Lebanon is concerned about its capacity to accommodate more people displaced by the Syrian civil war.

UNHCR released its Mid-Year Trends 2014 report, which indicate that an estimated 5.5 million people became newly displaced during the first half of 2014. Of these, 1.4 million fled across international borders, with the remaining displaced within their own countries. Syrians have become the largest refugee population under UNHCR's mandate.

Weekly media wrap - 24 November

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison announced Australia’s humanitarian intake of refugees through the UNHCR would not include people in Indonesia whose claims were assessed after July 1. ‘We're trying to stop people thinking that it's OK to come into Indonesia and use that as a waiting ground to get to Australia’, Mr Morrison said. Australia will continue to accept 13,750 refugees in 2014-15, mostly from countries of first asylum.

Resettled refugees on Nauru received an anonymous letter telling them to leave the island and that ‘bad things’ would happen if they stayed. The Nauruan government dismissed safety concerns and blamed refugee advocates for a ‘campaign of misinformation’.

Amnesty International released a report stating that Turkish border guards killed 17 people fleeing Syria at unofficial border crossings between December 2013 and August 2014.

A boatload of 35 asylum seekers from India and Nepal arrived on the small island of Yap, 2000km north of Papua New Guinea. People smugglers had reportedly told them that they would be taken to Australia.

An investigative report on the Al-Jazeera network claimed there is an illegal market for UNHCR refugee status cards in Malaysia, with some paying people thousands of Malaysian Ringgit for the documents. Sources at UNHCR said an internal investigation has been conducted to assess the fraudulent activity of staff.

Weekly media wrap - 20 October 2014

Asylum seeker advocates claim the Australian government’s proposed bill to reintroduce temporary protection visas contains controversial hidden laws. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says the bill ‘reinforces the Government’s powers to undertake maritime turnbacks and introduces rapid processing and streamlined review arrangements’. Critics claim that hidden laws would limit scrutiny of the Government’s actions and may reinterpret Australia’s obligations under the UN Refugee Convention.

The High Court considered the matter of 157 asylum seekers who were detained on the high seas earlier this year. Lawyers for the defendants produced evidence to show the asylum seekers were given no opportunity to claim asylum during their detention.

In a separate case, the Federal Circuit Court found that infants born to detained asylum-seekers do not have the right to an Australian visa.

A group of 50 Vietnamese asylum seekers will be released to live in the Western Australian community. The group, who are predominantly catholic, fled religious persecution in Vietnam.

In an interview with Fairfax, incoming Indonesian president Joko Widodo said that it is unacceptable for the Australian navy to enter Indonesian waters uninvited while turning back asylum seeker boats.

The Italian government operation to rescue asylum seekers at sea concludes in two weeks. The operation has rescued 140,000 asylum seekers in the past year. Critics are concerned that the closure of the operation will lead to more asylum seeker deaths at sea.

Weekly media round-up No. 50

Psychiatrists, bioethicists, human rights lawyers, novelists, priests and refugee advocates published a collective document accusing the Australian government of inhumane treatment of asylum seekers and demanding an end to mandatory detention and offshore processing.

Dr Peter Young, former director of mental health for International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) and chief psychiatrist responsible for the care of asylum seekers in detention for the past three years, accused the immigration department of deliberately inflicting harm on vulnerable people in an extended interview with The Guardian. He received support from peak medical bodies for speaking publically.

One hundred and fifty-seven Tamil asylum seekers transferred to Nauru in late July were allegedly offered lifeboats and instructed to row themselves back to India. Immigration minister Scott Morrison explained the decision to return them to Nauru was due to the asylums seekers’ refusal to speak with Indian consulates.  A spokesman for the Indian high commission said India never agreed to accept the return of any of the Tamil asylum seekers who were not Indian citizens.

Five Save the Children employees working in the detention centre for families on Nauru were suspended for encouraging or engaging asylum seekers who were peacefully protesting.

Mr Morrison called for a reinterpretation of the Refugee Convention which would require asylum seekers to change their behaviour or employment to avoid persecution. The matter will be considered by the High Court.

The Department of Defence released its report into the allegations that asylum seekers suffered burnt hands on board a boat as it was turned back to Indonesia in January. The defence report found no evidence supporting the claim.

The Australian Lawyers Alliance obtained documents from the immigration department which shows that since coming into power the Abbott Government has spent more than $3 million to encourage approximately 1110 asylum seekers to return to the country from which they fled.

Fairfax Media reported that at least 25 delegates who attended the 20th International AIDS conference in Melbourne in late July intend to seek asylum in Australia.

Weekly media round-up No. 39

More than 20 refugees became the first people released on Nauru and Manus Island under the Coalition Government’s policy whereby no asylum seekers arriving by boat can be resettled in Australia. Thirteen people left the detention centre on Nauru, while a further 11 were resettled on Manus Island on temporary visas, including with the right to work. Seven asylum seekers had their claim for refugee status rejected and remain in detention.

The federal government announced plans to introduce legislation during Parliament’s winter session to speed up the processing of refugee claims from nearly 24,000 asylum seekers who have arrived by boat. The Australian reported the aim of the reforms would be to lower the success rate of applications for refugee status. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said ‘the Coalition will not resile from our clear policy position and permanent visas will not be given to illegal maritime ­arrivals on our watch’.

A court in Perth released a photo of what conditions were like aboard a boat carrying asylum seekers, which sank in June 2012, causing 102 of the 210 passengers to drown. Two men are charged with assisting a group of five or more unlawful non-citizens into Australia in a way that gave rise to danger of death or serious injury. The court heard the boat was overcrowded and carrying too few life jackets when it left Indonesia.

A group of 50 asylum seekers were discovered and prevented from attempting to travel from Indonesia to New Zealand by boat. The distance to Christmas Island is 440 kilometres, but with Australia now refusing to resettle any asylum seekers arriving by boat, Fairfax Media reported the group were willing to pay up to $7000 each to a smuggler for the 8000 kilometre journey to New Zealand. 

Weekly media round-up No. 37

The governor of Port Moresby published an open letter expressing “grave concern” at the conditions on Manus Island. PNG immigration minister, Rimbink Pato, said that a refugee quota could be imposed, limiting the number of refugees resettled.

Fairfax published graphic images of detainees injured in the February riots on Manus Island. The Australian High Court heard arguments that the centre is constitutionally invalid and the Australian Government has no power to send asylum seekers to PNG. The case is ongoing.

Indonesian officials claimed the Australian navy added three asylum seekers to a boat turned back to Indonesia on 4 May. Federal police may be asked to investigate the incident, which may have breached Australian and international law. The Australian Government refused to comment on the incident.

Dozens of asylum seekers died when a boat sank off the coast of Libya. Meanwhile, Italy appealed for European Union support as 1200 asylum seekers land in Sicily. 

Weekly media roundup No. 36

Lawyers representing witnesses to the death of Reza Barati applied to the High Court of Australia for Manus Island detainees to be transported back to Australia, owing to fears for their safety. Lawyers for the detainees also lodged a habeus corpus writ, which claims gross human rights violations, including crimes against humanity, have been perpetrated by Immigration Minister Scott Morrison and the Australian and Papua New Guinean governments.

A guard’s account of the Manus Island violence on 17 February, submitted to the Senate inquiry into the events, included a statement that Reza Barati was struck over the head with a ‘lump of wood’. A recent Four Corners story raised significant concerns around the Manus Island operation.

Cambodia’s secretary of the state at the foreign ministry, Ouch Borith, indicated that the country had agreed ‘in principle’ to a deal proposed by the Australian Government to process and resettle asylum seekers in Cambodia.  President of the Cambodian Association of Australia, Youhorn Chea, condemned the government’s move, stressing that the nation was still coming to terms with its own human rights struggles.

The Guardian reported that Prime Minister Tony Abbott postponed a scheduled trip to Indonesia next week due to an asylum seeker operation north of Australia. A document leaked to The Guardian from the Nauruan government contained details of a plan to limit the resettlement of refugees in Nauru to a maximum of five years.

The Sri Lankan navy arrested 54 asylum seekers, including 13 children, when a fishing trawler headed for Australia was detected off the nation’s northeastern coast.

Recent figures released by the Immigration Department indicate the average time asylum seekers spend in Australian onshore detention is 275 days, a length that far exceeds international standards.  The Australian Human Rights Commission is concerned that the length of detention is used as a deterrent to asylum seekers.  

Performance artist Phuong Ngo began a 10-day art installation in Melbourne, during which he plans to fold 10,000 paper boats whilst consuming the same food provisions as his family on their journey to Australia in 1982. 

Weekly media round-up No. 35

Fairfax media reported that Papua New Guinean nationals employed as security guards entered the Manus Island detention centre the day before Reza Berati’s death in February, allegedly enraged by offensive chants from asylum seekers within the centre.

The UN said that Nauru is “breaching its international obligations” as it has failed to meet a February deadline set by the Committee Against Torture to establish an independent body to regularly inspect the detention centre. An unexploded wartime bomb was discovered at the centre, which detains children, pregnant women and families. Guardian Australia published a letter from Save the Children with allegations of “mistreatment and inappropriate behaviour” by guards employed by Wilson Security on Nauru.

At a UNHCR workshop on asylum seekers in Jakarta, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa called on the region to “share – not shift – responsibility” on asylum seekers, saying the issue “defies national solutions”.

UNHCR regional coordinator James Lynch said Australia’s policy of returning boats to Indonesia or ending boat arrivals to PNG or Nauru is against the Refugees Convention. Mr Lynch said Australia has not responded to questions about boat arrivals and questioned whether Australia was prepared to “honour [its] obligations”. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison dismissed suggestions Australia was breaching international law. He said the “policy is working” and the boats are stopping. Mr Morrison announced that no boats had reached Australia for over four months.

There is ongoing speculation on whether Australia will make a deal with Cambodia to resettle asylum seekers. In an interview with Fairfax, Mr Morrison said the government was encouraging countries that were willing to offer resettlement places to expand "permanent solutions" for people seeking asylum.

A federal circuit court judge reserved his decision on whether a case involving a group of asylum seekers who were named in the Immigration Department’s data-breach in February will continue to a full hearing. He said that the review process is still being developed and it is “premature for the asylum seekers to be seeking injunctions and declarations.”

Weekly media round-up No. 34

Twenty-six families with children born in detention received written assurance from the Immigration Department that neither they nor their children would be sent to offshore detention centres on either Nauru or Manus Island until a case on their legal status is resolved.

The Royal Australian Navy announced that one commanding officer will be removed from command and another administratively sanctioned due to a series of incursions into Indonesian waters in December and January. The announcement came on the same day that Guardian Australia revealed one of the Australian customs vessels went further into Indonesian waters than had previously been disclosed, within 27 kilometres of the Indonesian shore.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ representative in Indonesia, Manuel Jordao, said the number of asylum seekers registering in Indonesia has fallen from around 100 a day to 100 a week since December. Mr Jordao said it was too soon to say whether the decrease was due to the Australian Government’s policy Operation Sovereign Borders, under which no one arriving in Australia by boat is eligible for resettlement in Australia.

Indonesia’s top military commander said Australia had agreed to stop turning back boats to Indonesia, but Immigration Minister Scott Morrison contradicted this, saying that the government’s policy had not changed. Military Commander General Moeldoko made the comments after speaking with Australia’s defence chief, David Hurley. However, Mr Morrison told Fairfax Media that details of the conversation had been “misreported”. Indonesia and Australia are expected to discuss the issue further at the Bali Process this week.