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 - 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 – 7 September 2015

Images of three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi, whose body washed up on a Turkish beach, led to a shift in the European mood surrounding the Syrian refugee crisis. British Prime Minister David Cameron announced his nation would take thousands more Syrian refugees. The Prime Minister of Finland offered his country home as a refuge for asylum seekers.

These events have placed renewed pressure on the Australian Government to increase its refugee intake. Several prominent members of the Australian Liberal party – including Agricultural Minister Barnaby Joyce and NSW Premier Mike Baird – have come out in favour of increased resettlement of Syrian refugees.

The Opposition are calling for a one-off boost of 10,000 permanent refugee places to deal with the Syrian humanitarian crisis. Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the government will accommodate more Syrian refugees within the current quota of 13,750. 

The New York Times published an editorial criticising Australia’s asylum seeker boat turn-back and offshore detention policies. The article labeled these policies as ‘unconsciounable’, ‘inhumane’ and ‘of dubious legality’. Immigration minister Peter Dutton responded by calling the government’s actions lawful and effective.

Robert Cornall, who authored the inquiry into Reza Barati’s death, will review the status of more than 30 asylum seekers with adverse ASIO security assessments currently in detention in Australia.

Read the Kaldor Centre’s Weekly News Roundup. 

Weekly media wrap - 2 March

The Abbott Government continues to defend its criticism of Professor Gillian Triggs. Described by some as an 'attack', the Government accused Triggs, the President of the Human Rights Commission which produced The Forgotten Children report into children in detention, of harbouring political bias due to the timing of the report. The advocacy group Grandmothers Against Detention of Refugee Children rallied in Melbourne in support of Professor Triggs.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton confirmed that the Bladin Alternative Place of Detention in Darwin will close in April 2015. The Coalition Government has attributed the closure to its ability to stop the arrival of asylum seeker carrying boats and the success of Operation Sovereign Borders.

According to reports in The Guardian, the trial of the two men accused of murdering asylum seeker Reza Barati in a riot on Manus Island on 17 February 2014 will soon begin. Asylum seekers on Manus Island have been asked to give evidence and are reportedly nervous about their safety if they testify.

Amnesty International has called on Australia to do more to help the millions of refugees fleeing violence in Syria and Afghanistan, including increasing Australia’s humanitarian intake. Amnesty also released its annual report in which it condemned the Australian Government for its offshore processing policies and the continuing detention.

 Meanwhile, the Obama administration is pushing to increase the number of Syrian refugees settled in the United States, but is facing resistance from Republicans concerned about security screening of refugees.

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 - 15 December 2014

The Senate's Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee released an inquiry report into the February 2014 incidents on Manus Island, which led to the death of Iranian man Reza Barati. The Senate inquiry found that the government 'failed in its duty' to protect the asylum seekers. It also found that there were violations of human rights that warranted compensation for those who were injured. Coalition MPs who sat on this committee rejected some recommendations, arguing that the underlying issues that led to the riots were the responsibility of the previous Labor government. 

Asylum seekers on Manus Island wrote to Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to be taken off the island, as they fear they will be killed if released.

Documents obtained by The Australian regarding ill asylum seeker Hamid Kehazaei’s transfer from Manus Island in August reveal that the transfer was delayed by bureaucratic obstacles.

Guardian Australia data showed that asylum seekers were put in solitary confinement on Manus Island 74 times during the 25 weeks between 23 May and 17 November.

Asylum seeker families held in the Inverbrackie Immigration Detention Centre in Adelaide were released into the community on bridging visas.

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. 47

A document lodged with the High Court revealed that 153 asylum seekers whose boat was intercepted near Christmas Island remain on board an Australian Customs vessel. The document disclosed that the asylum seekers are being denied 'reasonable access' to legal advice and are unhappy about the conditions where they are being held.

At a directions hearing at the High Court in Melbourne, lawyers representing the Commonwealth stated that there were no plans to involuntarily return any asylum seekers to Sri Lanka, however the asylum seekers will remain on the ship until a decision has been made in regard to their processing location.

Papa New Guinean officials have not interviewed any suspects over the murder of Reza Barati, more than five months after his death. Tensions remained high at the Manus Island detention centre, resulting in two asylum seekers being confined by Wilson security staff.

Following reports that 15 asylum seekers absconded from community accommodation in South Australia, a group of school principals asked for more support for young asylum seekers attending school whilst in community detention. The police hunt for the 15 young people was brought to an end, as pressure continues to mount for the Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to account for their welfare.

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, who is a Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), accepted an invitation to visit the island of Nauru. A spokesperson for the Nauru Government said that the visit will be a 'wonderful opportunity to showcase the facilities for refugees on Nauru, which we believe are the world's best practice.'

More than 1300 people from Canberra have called for a more 'humane and tolerant' policy to be adopted in relation to asylum seekers in Australia, in a statement that will be heard by federal MPs at Parliament House.

An asylum seeker who pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property was sentenced to an 18-month good behaviour bond.