Weekly media wrap - 16 May 2016

Papua New Guinea’s immigration department announced that ‘no asylum seeker or refugee is in detention’, as they are able to leave the Manus Island centre during the day. They must then return to camp in the evening. Lawyers representing the Manus Island detainees asked the Supreme Court to hasten their compensation claims for illegal detention. They are requesting $462.75 for each day they were held illegally.

On Nauru, a 26 year-old Bangladeshi refugee died after suffering a series of heart attacks. There are reports from other asylum seekers that he had consumed a large number of pills before he admitted himself to hospital on Friday with chest pains, but these reports could not be confirmed. More than 100 refugees who have been in Nauru for three years signed a letter to the Australian government asking to be allowed to board boats to seek asylum in new countries.

Naima Ahmed, a 22 year-old Somali refugee, was evacuated from Nauru to the Royal Brisbane Hospital and placed on life support, following an emergency caesarean section performed in Nauru. She and her baby were airlifted on separate planes. Immigration minister Peter Dutton reiterated that the woman had received appropriate care in Nauru and that $11 million had been spent on upgrading the facilities there.

Peter Dutton will not appeal the federal court ruling that he breached his duty of care to asylum seeker, Abyan, who was flown to Papua New Guinea after she sought an abortion as a result of being raped in detention in Nauru.  Dutton is now legally required to fly Abyan to a country with the necessary medical expertise and equipment to safely perform an abortion.

Frontex, the EU’s border agency reported that there was a 90 per cent drop in the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Greece last month, attributing this to the EU agreement with Turkey to send back migrants arriving in Greece by boat. The Norwegian Refugee Council however, claimed that the refugees are beginning to choose a more dangerous route, Northern Africa to Italy, to seek European protection. They cited the announcement by Italian coastguards that 801 migrants were rescued from boats off the coast of Western Sicily, many of them from Syria, as evidence.

Weekly media wrap - 9 May 2016

On Nauru, a second incident of self-immolation occurred. The young Somali refugee woman remains in a critical condition and is being treated in a Nauru hospital. In the wake of the incident, Minister Dutton criticised both the media and advocacy groups for encouraging asylum seekers and refugees to ‘behave in a certain way’ and for raising hope and expectation that through resistance, they may be able to come to Australia. 

A PNG representative appeared before the United Nations Human Rights Council through the Universal Periodic Review process, stating that the government accepts the recent court decision and is working to make arrangements for the men held within the detention facility. Australian officials met with Papua New Guinea (PNG) counterparts to put in place arrangements to comply with the Supreme Court ruling.  

In Australia, an application was lodged in the high court for over 750 refugees and asylum seekers currently held in offshore detention. The case will seek an urgent injunction to prevent this group being sent to Nauru following the expected closure of the Manus Island detention centre.                  

Elsewhere in the courts, the Federal Court of Australia found that the Minister for Immigration, Peter Dutton, exposed an asylum seeker to serious medical and legal risk by flying the woman from Nauru to PNG to terminate her pregnancy, despite this procedure being illegal in PNG. The asylum seeker became pregnant after being raped while in detention. The Federal Court also found that Australia owed a duty of care to the asylum seeker, a finding that may have broad ramifications for offshore detention.

The Australian Government released a statement offering regret for the use of unsubstantiated allegations that led to the sacking of ten Save the Children staff working on Nauru. It was alleged that the workers were coaching people held in detention to self-harm. The Australian Government will provide compensation to Save the Children. However Scott Morrison, then immigration minister, has indicated he would not make an apology to the organisation for the incident. 

A boat carrying 12 asylum seekers was intercepted off the shores of Australia’s Cocos Islands. The group of asylum seekers were flown to Colombo, Sri Lanka and have been arrested and taken into police custody in Colombo. The Australian Government has not made any comment on this incident, identifying it as an operational matter.  

As part of 2016-17 federal budget announcements, Minister Dutton announced to parliament that 17 onshore detention facilities will be closed. 

Weekly media wrap - 2 May 2016

Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court ruled the detention of 850 asylum seekers on Manus Island unconstitutional, however the PNG government will not shut down the detention centre immediately. Following the decision, lawyer Ben Lomai outlined his intention to ask for compensation from the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments on behalf of men illegally detained.

Immigration minister Peter Dutton said the men are PNG’s responsibility and that Australia will help resolve the issue, suggesting an open centre arrangement or transfer to Nauru. Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull restated the Government’s position that the approximately 900 men there will not be resettled in Australia. New Zealand Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse reiterated New Zealand’s offer to take 150 refugees from offshore detention centres.

Omid, an Iranian refugee on Nauru self-immolated in protest in front of visiting United Nations representatives. He suffered third degree burns to 80% of his body, was transferred to Brisbane and later passed away.

Four Labor MPs called for the asylum seekers on Manus Island to be processed and settled in Australia. Labor’s policy to support offshore processing was agreed upon at the party’s annual conference in 2015.

Young Liberty for Law Reform released a report recommending that section 6 of the Australian Border Force Act – the secrecy provisions – be repealed. The report included testimony from detention centre workers whose careers and personal lives had been damaged through speaking out about the centres’ conditions. 

Weekly media wrap - 25 April 2016

In Papua New Guinea, a judge sentenced two men to five years in prison for the murder of Iranian asylum seeker Reza Barati. The judge said that the men received short sentences because there were others involved in Barati’s murder, who are yet to be charged.

Also in Papua New Guinea, 45 asylum seekers on Manus Island were told they are not entitled to refugee status, despite never applying for asylum. Elsewhere, authorities arrested an Iraqi refugee who was attempting to return to the detention centre. The man reportedly said he felt unsafe after being resettled in the community.

The Sri Lankan Navy intercepted an asylum seeker boat bound for Australia on Tuesday and returned the six adults and three children on board.

An asylum seeker boat sunk in the Mediterranean. Survivors reported that up to 500 drowned in the incident. The United Nations said that this would constitute the biggest loss of life on the Mediterranean in the past year.

Weekly media wrap - 10 April 2016

Immigration minister Peter Dutton said that the government had honoured its pledge “in spirit and in deed” to get all asylum seeker children out of immigration detention. The statement came as reports emerged that two children remain in immigration detention. Mr Dutton also vowed that all asylum seeker children who had been released would be sent to Nauru, once they and their families no longer needed medical support.

The High Court granted an urgent injunction to prevent an abortion being carried out on an asylum seeker who had been transferred to Papua New Guinea. Justice Patrick Keane, who presided over the hearing, said that the urgency of the matter and the gravity of the consequences for the plaintiff were sufficient to warrant the granting of the injunction.

On Nauru, two asylum seekers received medical treatment after police were summoned to respond to a protest at the Nauru regional processing centre. Footage, purportedly of the protest, emerged showing the confrontation between detainees and police. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection stated that seven service provider staff were injured while attempting to restore order. The asylum seekers are protesting against the Australia government’s refusal to allow them to apply for protection visas in Australia.

The Papua New Guinea government announced that it had finished its assessment of the claims to refugee status of the 850 men at the Manus Island detention centre. About 400 of the men were found to be refugees.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter announced that 180 refugees had been resettled as part of the government’s commitment to accept 12,000 refugees displaced by the conflict in Syria.

The first people were returned to Turkey under a recently implemented agreement between the European Union and Turkey. Under the agreement, all ‘irregular migrants’ arriving in Greece from Turkey face being sent back, and for every person sent back, a Syrian refugee will be resettled from Turkey to the EU. Refugees in on the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios reacted angrily to the first deportations with some saying they would rather take their own lives than return to Turkey. In a statement, the UNHCR indicated that it did not oppose the agreement but that greater safeguards were needed to process asylum seekers in Greece.

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 - 29 February 2016

The mother of asylum seeker baby Asha was accused of intentionally burning her baby in order to facilitate their transfer to Australia for medical treatment. Queensland Police confirmed that they had completed an investigation into the matter and dismissed the accusations. Meanwhile, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Peter Dutton, said that while the family had been released into community detention for now, they would eventually be returned to Nauru.

In a first for asylum seekers detained on Nauru or Manus Island, two refugees who spent three years living on Nauru, including two years in detention, have been relocated to Canada to be reunited with their family.

Following a meeting last week between Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his New Zealand counterpart, John Key, Peter Dutton this week rejected an offer from New Zealand to resettle 150 refugees now on Nauru, on the basis that it would provide an incentive to asylum seekers to travel to Australia by boat. Mr Dutton also confirmed that Australian border protection authorities recently turned an asylum seeker boat back to Sri Lanka.

Amnesty International released its annual report. Highlighting the ‘harsh conditions’ faced by millions of asylum seekers across the Asia-Pacific region, the report stated that Australia’s asylum seeker policies violated international law by ‘forcibly returning people to countries where they would face a real risk of serious violations’.

The UNHCR issued a statement saying that on average two children have drowned every day trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea since September 2015. The news comes as countries across Europe adopt more restrictive policies, including border closures.

Weekly media wrap - 27 January 2016

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said 72 children in mandatory detention on the mainland would be transferred to offshore detention.  A group of 930 academics wrote an open letter to the Australian government urging the immediate release of children from detention.

An investigation by Fairfax media revealed that the Maribyrnong Detention Centre in Melbourne has the highest rate of detainee restraint and use of force by staff. The Villawood detention centre recorded the second highest rate of use of force.

In Papua New Guinea, Manus Island residents met to discuss the lack of benefit arising from the island’s detention centre. A spokesperson stated that too little of the $420 million of Australian Government aid given to PNG for hosting the centre has flowed to the Manus Island community.

The Danish parliament passed laws that delay family reunification for three years for people fleeing indiscriminate violence, and allow police to seize assets of asylum seekers over a certain value. 

Weekly media wrap - 18 January 2016

The crew of an asylum seeker boat who were allegedly paid by an Australian official to return to Indonesia were jailed on people smuggling charges.  The six crew members were each sentenced to over five years in prison and ordered to pay fines between $50,000 and $70,000.  The sentencing followed an Indonesian police investigation which found that the Australian Navy had paid the crew $US32,000 to return the asylum seekers to Indonesia.  An Australian Senate inquiry, due to report in March, will assess the legality of payments made to the crew members.

An independent report found that Save the Children workers sacked on Nauru in 2014 are entitled to compensation from the Australian government.  The dismissals were found to be politically motivated and based on ‘no evidence or reliable information’.  Save the Children CEO Paul Ronalds welcomed the report and urged the Australian government to end the practice of mandatory detention of children.

Twenty-eight refugees living in Nauru wrote to New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key, requesting permanent resettlement.  Despite a deal negotiated between Australia and New Zealand in 2013, in which New Zealand agreed to accept 150 refugees per year from Australia’s offshore detention facilities, no resettlements have been granted.  New Zealand’s immigration minister, Michael Woodhouse, responded to the letter, stating that ‘it is for Australia to take up the offer to utilise the… 150 places’.  Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull argued that resettlement in New Zealand could ‘result in creating incentives for people smugglers to get back into business’. 

In Papua New Guinea, Benham Satah, the key witness in Reza Barati’s murder trial, requested to be transferred to a different compound at the Manus Island detention centre, where he has been detained for over two years.  Satah, who was offered protection before giving evidence against two local men accused of killing Barati, said he is being targeted by guards and fears for his life at the centre.  A public petition requesting that Satah “be brought immediately to Australia and settled in the community” drew more than 16,000 signatures.

The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) called for greater government investment in organisations supporting asylum seekers.  RCOA toured Australia gathering information about the challenges facing these support centres, and will make recommendations to the Australian Government in February.

Weekly media wrap - 14 December 2015

Senate hearings showed that Australia’s offshore detention program cost the government an estimated $1.2 billion in the last financial year.  Charter flights between Nauru, Manus Island and Australia accounted for $20,265,000 of the total cost.  The return to Nauru of pregnant 23 year-old Somali refugee, Abyan (pseudonym), cost $115,000.

A senior Thai police officer, Major General Paween Pongsirin, is seeking political asylum in Australia.  Pongsirin, who had been leading an investigation into the trafficking of Rohingya asylum seekers, fears for his life following arrest warrants being issued to prominent politicians, police officers and military figures.  Human Rights Watch Asia deputy director Phil Robertson expressed concerns for Pongsirin’s safety.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released its Statistical Yearbook for 2014. A record high of nearly 1.7 million applications for asylum were submitted to governments and UNHCR offices in 157 countries in 2014.

Read the Kaldor Centre's weekly news roundup.

Weekly media wrap - 26 October 2015

The return to Nauru of pregnant 23 year-old Somali refugee, Abyan (pseudonym), received international media attention.  Abyan, who was allegedly raped on Nauru, released a statement through her lawyers declaring that while in Australia she did not say no to an abortion, nor did she receive counselling or see a doctor.  Immigration Minister Peter Dutton maintained the government position that Abyan had declined treatment.

In response to the lack of transparency surrounding Abyan’s case, Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs called for independent monitoring of Australia’s offshore detention facilities.  Peter Dutton rejected the call, stating that current support was sufficient. 

In a challenge to the Labor party’s support of offshore processing, Labor MP Melissa Parke moved a motion to Caucus. Ms Parke is calling on the party to demand improved independent oversight or close the centres on Manus Island and Nauru.

In Victoria, Afghan asylum seeker Khodayar Amini, 30, died due to self-immolation. Mr Amini came to Australia by boat in September 2012 and was living in the community on a bridging visa. He reportedly feared being returned to detention.

On Nauru, police officers conducted a second raid on Save the Children staff at the detention centre.  Operating under a search warrant, police seized laptops and computers, in an alleged effort to locate whistle-blowers.

On Manus Island, asylum seeker Mohammed Albederee, who has been on a hunger strike for over six months, filmed a plea for help from the detention facility.

Diplomatic tension rose between Australia and New Zealand following the detention of 40 New Zealanders on Christmas Island.  The detainees, who have previously served prison sentences of 12 months or more, threatened to riot in response to their treatment.

Internationally, Google launched ‘Crisis Info Hub’, a site aimed to support asylum seekers in their search for transport and accommodation worldwide.

Read the Kaldor Centre’s weekly news roundup.

Weekly media wrap - 28 September 2015

New Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that he was ‘concerned’ about Australia’s offshore immigration program, but the Immigration Minister Peter Dutton maintained that there would be no changes to the government’s asylum seeker policies.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Francois Crépeau, cancelled his visit to Australia. The official visit was cancelled due to concerns around access to offshore detention centres and the protection of informants under the Border Force Act.

Meanwhile, in a move understood to reflect a demilitarisation of the immigration portfolio, Mr Dutton will no longer sit on the National Security Committee, Australia’s peak security council. In response to the change, Labor’s immigration spokesman Richard Marles said that the ‘notion that the minister responsible for the integrity of our borders doesn’t form part of NSC [National Security Committee] is naive and displays an alarming lack of judgment’.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young announced that she would tour the country, speaking to corporate clients and shareholders of Transfield Services, the company that runs detention centre on Nauru and Manus Island. Senator Hanson-Young said that the goal of the tour is to raise awareness of the human rights abuses occurring in the detention centres.

European Union home affairs ministers met in Brussels to adopt a plan to relocate 120,000 refugees from Greece and Italy for resettlement among the EU’s 28 member states. Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania voted against the plan, with all four states expressing their anger at perceived bullying by Western Europe.

Later in the week, European state and government leaders attended a summit to discuss the ongoing mass migration to Europe from the Middle East. President of the European Council Donald Tusk claimed the summit a success, announcing an additional 1 billion Euros in humanitarian aid to the UNHCR and World Food Programme to support refugees in the Middle East. While the aid commitment was welcomed, refugee advocates, including Amnesty International, expressed their disappointment in the leaders’ failure to reach agreement on how to ensure safe and legal routes for refugees into Europe.

Read the Kaldor Centre’s weekly news roundup.

Weekly media wrap - 31 August 2015

The Senate inquiry examining abuse at the Nauru detention centre released its final report. The report’s recommendations include the removal of children from the Nauru detention centre as soon as possible (Recommendation 11); greater transparency and accountability mechanisms; and new laws on requiring reporting of sexual and violent allegations (Recommendation 15). The committee's findings were supported by Labor and the Greens, but opposed by government senators who put forward a dissenting report (Chapter 5).

On the same day as the Senate inquiry report was released, reports emerged that Transfield received a new five-year contract to provide expanded services on Nauru and Manus Island from November 2015. Transfield will replace Save the Children in providing welfare services in the offshore centres.

The Australian government's plan to resettle asylum seekers from Nauru to Cambodia is in doubt.  With four refugees resettled so far, Cambodian Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak stated ‘we don't have any plans to import more refugees from Nauru to Cambodia’.

The Australian Border Force (ABF) announced a joint operation with Victoria Police to conduct random visa checks in Melbourne's CBD.  Don Smith, Victorian and Tasmanian commander of ABF, said "ABF officers will be positioned at various locations around the CBD speaking with any individual we cross paths with".  The operation, codenamed "Operation Fortitude", received widespread public condemnation and, following protests in central Melbourne, was cancelled the same day it was announced. 

Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten, criticised the operation as "catastrophically silly", while Greens Senator, Sarah Hanson-Young, called for the powers of the ABF to be clarified.  Hugh de Kretser, executive director of the Human Rights Law Centre, argued that the incident reinforced concerns around the militarisation of immigration officials.  The government confirmed that the office of immigration minister Peter Dutton received a copy of the media release, while Prime Minister Toby Abbott stated that he had no prior knowledge of the operation.

On Nauru, the convictions of two asylum seekers jailed over riots at the detention centre on Nauru were overruled by the Nauruan Court of Appeal.  The court identified flaws in both the original trial and initial investigation, conducted by Wilson Security.

In Papua New Guinea, the supreme court intervened to halt the forced removal of asylum seekers to their countries of origin. Following the deportation of two Iranian detainees from the Manus Island detention facility, the court ordered an interim injunction to stop forcible removals.

Read the Kaldor Centre’s Weekly News Roundup.

Weekly media wrap - 17 August 2015

In Australia, a 21-year-old Afghan asylum seeker is expected to be deported to Afghanistan. His two younger brothers have been killed and father has gone missing in Afghanistan. The Afghan government has sought to curb the flow of forced returns from Australia and other countries, recently blocking the return of the asylum seeker.  

At the parliamentary inquiry examining abuse at the Nauru detention centre, a Wilson Security guard claimed that asylum seekers in the island’s detention centre were being subjected to torture techniques including water-boarding. Both Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton have rejected these claims, stating that they were unsubstantiated.

Legal proceedings began this week against the Commonwealth Government over the alleged negligence of a five-year-old Iranian asylum seeker at the Nauru detention centre. The young girl’s lawyer told the Northern Territory Supreme Court that she suffered significant mental injuries caused by a year spent in detention.

The family of a female Iranian asylum seeker, who was allegedly raped three months ago in Nauru, say the Federal Government has refused to allow her to be treated in Australia. A spokesperson for the Immigration Minister indicated that the woman concerned is receiving appropriate medical and mental health support and care in Nauru.

A whistleblower claimed Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young was filmed and photographed while on a visit to Nauru in 2013. Greens leader Richard DeNatale demanded Wilson Security be excluded from future contract tenders, and called for a federal policy investigation into the incident.

On Manus Island, Guardian Australia reported that refugees are being encouraged to resettle in Papua New Guinea, and are being told that if they do not cooperate they may be moved to Port Moresby and held in custody where conditions are worse.

In Europe, UNHCR expressed concern over the living conditions of an estimated 3000 refugees and migrants living in makeshift sites in Calais, on the northern coast of France. UNHCR highlighted the rising death toll among refugees and migrants attempting to cross the Channel into the United Kingdom.

Italy arrested five men accused of multiple murders and human trafficking following a shipwreck in early August, which left more than 200 people feared drowned. The vessel was believed to have had over 600 migrants onboard when it began the journey. 

Read the Kaldor Centre's Weekly News Roundup.

Weekly media wrap 20 July 2015

Protests against the Border Force Act continued this week. In Sydney, doctors and other health professionals rallied on the steps of the Town Hall to protest against the secrecy provisions contained in the Act.

Information released by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to a Senate inquiry shows that asylum seekers are being held in Australian detention centres alongside non-asylum seeker detainees who have been convicted of serious criminal offences. Refugee advocates called for such detainees to be separated from those without convictions.

A report into conditions at the Manus Island detention centre released by Human Rights Watch and the Human Rights Law Centre said that "Australia's experiment in offshore detention has been a disaster." The report found that since the former Labor government announced that asylum seekers who arrived by boat would be resettled in Papua New Guinea after refugee status assessment on Manus Island in 2013, no asylum seekers have been resettled. However, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said that Papua New Guinea is "on track" to resettle asylum seekers whose refugee status has been confirmed.

UNHCR reported that over 10,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Yemen since March 2015. A representative from UNHCR Yemen said that many of these asylum seekers "are tricked into making the journey by people smugglers who tell them that the conflict is over and all is safe in Yemen."

Weekly media wrap 29 June

The Australian government amended the Migration Act to fortify the legislation against an upcoming High Court challenge to offshore detention. The amendments passed with the support of the Labor Party.

Opposition MP Joel Fitzgibbon suggested the Labor Party should consider support for boat turn-backs. Following the suggestion, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton urged opposition leader Bill Shorten to clarify the Labor Party’s position. Asylum seeker policy is anticipated to be a significant discussion point at the Labor Party’s national conference in July. 

NSW Premier Mike Baird announced public transport travel concessions for asylum seekers, referring to them as ‘the most vulnerable (group) in our society.’

Several parties challenged the legitimacy of offshore detention during the week. The United Nations said that Papua New Guinea is breaking international law by restricting individuals’ freedom of movement. In a separate matter, several hundred detainees joined an existing legal challenge to their detention under the Papuan constitution. The Australian government reportedly transferred an infant from mainland detention to Nauru. If accurate, this would be the second infant transferred to Nauru this year. 

European Union leaders agreed to resettle 40,000 North African and Middle Eastern refugees. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi criticised fellow leaders for a lack of regional solidarity. Over 100,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year.

Read the Kaldor Centre's Weekly News Roundup

Weekly media wrap 1 June

Asylum seekers on bridging visas, who arrived to Australia by boat after August 2012, began receiving letters this week offering them to apply for temporary protection visas. The Australian government has lifted a freeze on processing the claims of 'unauthorised maritime arrivals' who arrived from mid-2012, and has begun the use of fast-track processing.

A Senate committee heard that the Australian government spent $2.4 billion over two years maintaining offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island, Papua New Guinea.

The family of a five-year-old Iranian girl is suing the Commonwealth of Australia and minister for immigration for negligence, which allegedly led to the child's severe psychiatric symptoms. The family is seeking financial damages and an injunction preventing their return to Nauru. This week the immigration department decided to transfer the family to community detention in Brisbane. Nauruan police are investigating the sexual assault of an Iranian asylum seeker last week.

Five detainees were removed from the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre or placed in solitary arrangements after confronting facility guards. Another group of 23 detainees, including some asylum seekers, have been transferred to Christmas Island from the Maribyrnong centre in Melbourne.

 Victorian Supreme Court Justice Stephen Kaye criticised immigration officials for blocking court ordered access for lawyers representing asylum seekers on Christmas Island. The lawyers were denied access to a group of asylum seekers who are suing the Australian government for neglecting to provide them appropriate medical care. 

The European Union sought a commitment from its member states to admit 40,000 asylum seekers from Syria and Eritrea landing in Italy and Greece. 

Read the Kaldor Centre's Weekly News Roundup

Weekly media wrap - 13 April

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop will seek to persuade Iran to take back hundreds of failed asylum seekers held in Australian immigration detention when she visits Tehran next week. So far, Iran has refused to do so. Labor leader Bill Shorten said he will support the move, as long as Australia meets its obligations under international law. The Refugee Action Collective said Bishop was ‘playing with people’s lives’ by sending them back to Iran, where they may face persecution.

The Government announced it will make a telemovie designed to deter asylum seekers from coming to Australia by boat. The ABC’s Lateline reported that the drama is due to be broadcast later this year in countries like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. A spokesperson from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection said the ‘telemovie will realistically portray the journeys of people… and the challenges they face’. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the movie was part of an intensive effort by the Federal Government to end the people smuggling trade. Critics have opposed the drama, objecting to its cost and saying it would be unlikely to deter people from fleeing.

In Nauru, an asylum seeker who reported being sexually assaulted as part of the Moss Review says those who have made allegations of assaults have faced threats of harm from the perpetrators.

Transfield Services told their staff on Manus Island and Nauru detention centres that they can be fired for interacting with asylum seekers on social media, or being affiliated with a political, advocacy or religious groups opposed to Australia’s refugee policy.

On the mainland, an Iranian asylum seeker who has been on hunger strike for 44 days in Perth has begun accepting fluids.

Weekly media wrap - 19 January

A week of protest and hunger strikes on Manus Island culminated in the storming of two compounds of the detention centre by Wilson guards.

On Tuesday 13 January, 100 asylum seekers went on hunger strike, protesting resettlement in Papua New Guinea (PNG) enabled by a bilateral with Australia.

By Wednesday 14 January, 500 asylum seekers were on hunger strike. On the same day, running water became unavailable  at the centre. 

On Friday 16 January the entire centre was placed in lockdown, preventing staff from entering the compounds. Australian immigration minister Peter Dutton stated it was his ‘absolute resolve’ to prevent asylum seekers arriving in Australia and accused advocates of coaching self-harm, a claim that was strongly denied. 

By Saturday 17 January, more than 100 asylum seekers were under medical care, most from dehydration. PNG’s immigration minister Rimbink Pato reported asylum seekers sewing their lips and swallowing razor blades and washing powder.

On Sunday 18 January, four asylum seekers were placed in solitary confinement as asylum seekers barricaded themselves inside Delta compound. Amid conflicting claims over conditions at the detention centre, opposition leader Bill Shorten called for transparency from the government. Mr Dutton said asylum seekers had engaged in ‘aggressive’ and ‘irresponsible behaviour’.

Meanwhile, Australian and Cambodian officials visited Nauru, to discuss the deal to resettle refugees in Cambodia.

In Australia, advocates for 15 Iranian asylum seekers detained indefinitely in Darwin wrote to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants requesting an investigation into their detention. 

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.