Weekly media wrap - 30 March

Discussion surrounding the Moss Review into conditions at the Regional Processing Centre on Nauru continued. Among other things, leaked interview transcripts showed evidence used to remove 10 Save the Children staff from Nauru was not conclusive.

New laws passed the Senate under which asylum seekers will have to prove their identity to secure protection visas.

International aid agencies in Cambodia refused to participate in the Government’s planned deal to provide $40 million in development aid in exchange for a refugee resettlement deal. It came as the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding to guide resettlement of refugees in Cambodia.

Fifteen asylum seekers – including nine with UNHCR letters stating their refugee status – said they spent three days on Christmas Island before being told to sail back to Indonesia on their fishing boats by Australian authorities.

The winning design for Immigration Place in Canberra was announced – an undulating public artwork reminiscent of waves on the ocean.

Weekly media wrap - 9 February

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres responded to the High Court’s judgment of the Tamil asylum seeker known as  ‘CPCF’, decided on 28 January 2015.  Despite the judgement that Australian authorities acted lawfully according to Australian law, UNHCR urged Australia to recognise its international legal obligations.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser criticised the government for its attacks on the Australian Human Rights Commission in the lead up to the 2014 release of the Commission's report from the Inquiry into Children in Detention.

Senate Estimate documents showed that during the last financial year the Federal Government spent over $1.2 billion on the operation of detention centres on Manus Island, Nauru and Christmas Island.

Human rights lawyer Julian Burnside QC announced that he will represent an Iranian asylum seeker in an appeal after his application for refugee status was rejected.  The 33 year old detainee of Wickham Point detention centre has been on a hunger strike since his appeal was rejected late last year.

In international news, Guterres urged the European Union to grant asylum to more refugees, with 50 million people currently displaced globally, creating the largest refugee crisis worldwide since World War II.

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.