Monthly Wrap Oct 2024

In the media

PNG and Nauru

The men who Australia sent to PNG once again face eviction due to unpaid rent. Denmark’s Immigration Minister visited Nauru to look at the pros and cons of Australia’s offshore detention system.

Palestinians in Australia

The number of Palestinians who lodged asylum applications in Australia continued to grow. The Home Affairs Minister confirmed that he authorised temporary protection visas to a handful of Palestinian families. Documents show that all applications from Palestinians were checked by ASIO.

International

Rohingya men reported that they are being abducted and forced to serve in the Arakan Army, who are fighting the Myanmar army for control of Rakhine state. Melbourne’s Peter McMullin Centre for Statelessness will hold an online seminar on the situation of stateless people in Rakhine state. As the Taliban passed a new law that prohibits women from talking outside of their home, CNN reported on the determination of Afghan girls to get educated. The Venezuelan presidential candidate, who many states recognise as the winner of their election, fled to Spain. Germany has reintroduced border checks for a period of six months. Documents secured under freedom of information detail the situation of people who were subject to the UK’s Rwanda transfer program.

In policy

The government proposed legislation that would further limit asylum seeker’s access to AAT merits review. Submissions on the proposed change can be viewed here. Guardian Australia published a feature on the inconsistency in government treatment of people based on where they have come from. The Refugee Council of Australia urged the government to reconsider the applicants who were rejected under the controversial ‘fast track’ decision-making process in 2014.

New releases

Being stateless, an oral history podcast, a podcast series by the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness.

Monthly Wrap September 2022

In the media

In detention

The ABC profiled the situation of a refugee, with an intellectual disability, who has been in detention since he was 15 years old, while his mother lives in the community. The government says that his ongoing detention is based on character grounds.

 In Court

A Federal Court judge ordered the government to reassess their refusal of a citizenship application which effectively caused a child to become stateless. The High Court agreed to hear an appeal by a convicted people smuggler who was denied a protection visa. The case will test whether Australia’s deterrence policy is punitive.

In Nauru

Leaked documents revealed that Wilson Security collected intelligence for the Australian government on the people detained in Nauru.  A company that runs prisons in America was awarded the contract for detention centre operations in Nauru.

In the community

SBS profiled business start-ups by refugees in Australia, highlighting the fact that they are more likely to start their own business than other migrant groups.   

International

NGOs in France argued that the lack of support to asylum seekers in France is causing people to attempt the channel crossing. The war in Ukraine and conflict in Myanmar appears to have caused the Japanese government to consider accepting more refugees. Refugees in Cameroon will get national ID cards that will enable them to access basic services including education, banking and healthcare. Documents revealed that of the 16,000 people who were issued with notices of their potential removal under the UK’s new inadmissibility policy, only 21 were removed have been removed.

In policy

MP Andrew Wilkie re-introduced the Ending Indefinite and Arbitrary Immigration Detention bill to Parliament and MP Dai Le said she will push the government to increase the humanitarian quota and speed up refugee processing. Advocates called for the government to implement measures that will enable skilled asylum seekers already in Australia to more easily contribute to the workforce shortage. Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, more than 211,000 people  applied for resettlement to Australia. Australia welcomed the first group of refugees under the new community sponsorship program. An Australian former refugee co-founded a global organisation that advocates for refugees to have direct input into policies that affect them.  

In research

The Refugee Council of Australia published its review of access to asylum, its first report under the new global Refugee Response Index. The UNSW Kaldor Centre released a Data Lab containing data on Tribunal and Court matters concerning asylum seekers and refugees. The Comparative Network on Refugee Externalisation Policies (CONREP) published a paper into the harmful narratives used to discuss refugees, and proposed a better way forward. The Refugee Law Initiative published the webinars from their 2022 conference. Michelle Foster and Cathryn Costello examined the question of differing reactions to refugee situations against international law that prohibits discrimination. The Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness opened registrations for their 2023 intensive course.

New releases

Unpacking the Australian offshore processing policy, an episode in the Australia: Inside Out podcast, published by Menzies Australia Institute, Kings College London.

Weekly media round-up No. 45

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison announced a proposal to apply a “national interest test” for permanent protection applications from people who arrive without a visa.  Refugee advocates have responded saying that a High Court challenge could be launched to refute the proposal.

There has been continued speculation about whether asylum seekers who left southern India on 13 June, and who appealed to refugee advocates last Friday, would be turned back to Sri Lanka. Human rights groups issued accusations that Australia breached international law amid reports that the Australian navy was deployed to pick up Tamil asylum seekers and hand them to the Sri Lankan authorities.

It is alleged that the asylum seekers’ claims were assessed through four questions on board via video link. The Guardian issued information from a former immigration department officer that the department has previously considered using Australian custom vessels to interview and process asylum seekers, but was advised the process could be unlawful.

Whether the vessels were turned around has not been confirmed. Sri Lankan and Indian authorities and government officials said they had not received any official information about this case, however The Australian reported that a Sri Lankan navy official claimed asylum seekers were picked up. The Australian Greens and the Labor immigration spokesman have called on the Prime Minister to give public details on the fate of the asylum seekers. A spokesman for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said that the department would not comment on operations. 

In a 3AW interview, Prime Minister Tony Abbott insisted Australia was acting legally within its international obligations. He said that turning boats around, returning asylum seekers to Sri Lanka and the rapid on-board screening process were all “in accordance with the international law”.

The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) issued statistics that children account for the greatest percentage of self-harm incidents and suicidal behaviour by asylum seekers in detention. This was not confirmed by the International Health and Medical Services which is contracted to provide health care for asylum seekers in Australian detention. The AHRC also announced a third hearing for the commission’s inquiry into children in immigration detention, which would be held for “whistleblower employees” to give evidence.

PNG police are searching for a former Salvation Army employee, suspected of killing Reza Berati in the unrest in February on Manus Island, who has fled to PNG’s mainland. An asylum seeker who lost an eye during the riots has launched legal action against the federal government.

The ABC reported allegations that detainees in immigration detention facilities are put under pressure to 'volunteer' to go home before applying for asylum.