Weekly media wrap - 11 May

Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced there would be a $504 million saving in the coming financial year from Operation Sovereign Borders, which will include the closure of detention centres, reduction in charter flights and logistical and service changes.

Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, confirmed that Australia had worked with the Vietnamese government to return 46 asylum seekers intercepted at sea. Minister Dutton said that the asylum seekers were ‘safely returned to Vietnam after we were assured that they did not have a claim to protection and that we had met our international obligations’. Human rights groups criticised the process of assessing the claims.

Minister Dutton announced that the arrival of refugees from Nauru to Phnom Penh, Cambodia was imminent.

A United Nations Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture completed a three-day visit to Nauru, where they inspected the processing centre and local detention facilities. The Subcommittee called for greater transparency on conditions and systems governing the centre.

Prime Minister Abbott suggested that Australia was in talks with European Union officials, who were interested in the country’s asylum policy. However a European Commission spokeswoman, Natasha Bertaud, denied seeking Australia’s advice, stating that the Australian model was not of interest because of its refoulement principle.

Weekly media wrap - 1 December

The Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen wrote to an opposition party politician defending Cambodia’s ability to host and protect refugees. However, a group of Cambodian NGOs expressed ‘deep concern’ about the deal, and the ‘shroud of secrecy’ surrounding it. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young also wrote about her concerns with the deal, after travelling to Cambodia to assess the conditions that refugees will face there.

The Federal Court of Australia reserved its decision about the right of children born in Australian detention centres to seek refugee visas. Labor and the Greens expressed opposition to a decision by the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee to recommend that the Resolving the asylum seeker caseload bill be passed. The bill also came under pressure from Senate crossbenchers who want the legislation to include a pathway to permanent resettlement of refugees and reunion with immediate family members.

The UN Committee Against Torture released a report criticising elements of Australia’s asylum seeker policies, including the policies of turning back boats carrying asylum seekers and mandatory detention of children on Nauru and Manus Island.

The Guardian reported a female asylum seeker was allegedly impregnated when she was raped in detention on Nauru.  This follows stories of the rape of homosexual asylum seeker men who are scared of being jailed for their sexuality.  

A group of high profile Australians recorded a song calling for an end to child detention.

Asylum seekers on Manus Island wrote to the United States and Canada requesting for resettlement to these countries.

In international news, President Obama announced sweeping reforms to the United States’ immigration policy that will ease the threat of deportation for 4.7 million undocumented immigrants. However, the President’s unprecedented exercise of executive authority is likely to face fierce opposition from the Republican party.