Weekly media wrap - 21 September 2015

Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbot as Prime Minister after a leadership ballot. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton retained his position in the cabinet reshuffle despite earlier in the week having offered to resign. The Indonesian government welcomed the leadership change, suggesting an opportunity to improve diplomatic relations with the new government.

The Turnbull Government consulted with the Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council on the mechanics of settling 12,000 Syrian refugees expected to arrive in Australia between now and the end of the year.  The majority of the extra refugees are expected to be resettled in Sydney and Melbourne, where the bulk of Australia's Syrian community lives.

The federal court found that the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s investigation in to a data breach which published the details of almost 10,000 asylum seekers, was designed to fail.  The court said the immigration department responded to the data in a way that was ‘unfair to a significant degree’ and had not provided procedural fairness to asylum seekers affected.

An Afghan refugee who had his visa cancelled due to child pornography convictions set himself alight at a West Australian immigration detention centre after previous bids to end his own life.

The refugee crisis in Europe continues as Hungary closed the border between Serbia and Hungary. The UNHCR has again called for European Union member states to reach agreement on a plan to relocate up to 120,000 refugees.

Read the Kaldor Centre’s Weekly News Roundup.

Weekly media wrap - 17 November

The UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) is reviewing Australia’s obligations under its treaty for the first time since 2008, and will hand down its assessment on November 28. Australia’s immigration policy came under the spotlight when the committee questioned officials in relation to deaths and treatment of asylum seekers in offshore detention and the interception of boats at sea. Following this, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison announced that his department is set to introduce an independent ‘Detention Assurance Team’ (DAT) which will seek to monitor abuse and misconduct by service providers contracted to run both onshore and offshore detention centres.

The Senate inquiry into the federal government’s migration and maritime powers amendment received over 5,000 submissions, with many critical of the proposed laws. The amendment will seek to fast-track the assessment process and remove existing review mechanisms. The Department of Immigration revealed at the hearing that further legislation is required before asylum seekers are able to transition between the proposed safe haven enterprise visa (SHEV) and other classes of visas. The news comes after more than 100 asylum seekers on Manus Island signed a letter to MP Clive Palmer, asking to be included in plans for the government’s temporary protection visa scheme.

Meanwhile, Papua New Guinea offered 10 asylum seekers in the Manus Island detention centre refugee status, inviting them to apply for a 12-month visa. This follows Greens Senator Sarah Hanson Young’s undertaking to spend a week in Cambodia investigating the conditions for refugees who may be re-settled in the country under the government’s new deal.

Australia’s privacy commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim, released a report concluding that the Department of Immigration unlawfully exposed data on almost 10,000 asylum seekers in detention and left their personal information public for 16 days after the breach was reported.

More than 1000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees fleeing Islamic State militants have been resettled in Australia on special humanitarian visas. Refugee advocates called for two Afghan asylum seekers to be returned to Australia following a High Court order to review a case with similar foundations. An Australian-born child, deemed by authorities as an unauthorised arrival, marked his first birthday in an immigration detention facility in Darwin.

Weekly media wrap - 27 October

Australian Federal Independent MP Andrew Wilkie wrote to the International Criminal Court to seek an investigation into the treatment of asylum seekers, to determine whether Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the 19 members of the cabinet have contravened international conventions.

The Guardian obtained information that Immigration Minister Scott Morrison employed a rarely used clause in the Migration Act that allows him to issue a ‘conclusive certificate’. The certificate blocks permanent protection on grounds of national interest. Asylum seeker advocates say that refugees are being denied natural justice and there is a lack of clarity on how national interest is being defined.

The future of the migration and maritime power legislation amendment bill is uncertain, as it is facing difficulty passing through the senate. Minister Morrison said failing to pass it would add to budget costs and keep children in detention. Critics claim that this bill will allow an increase to the powers of the immigration minister and will limit the role of the courts by bypassing the review process.

A group of asylum seekers won a Federal Court appeal against the immigration department over the unintentional exposure of their personal details in a significant data breach in February 2014. The Immigration Minister has been ordered to pay the asylum seekers' costs.

Further delays are expected for refugees to be resettled in Papua New Guniea, as Prime Minister Peter O'Neill announced plans for a new policy with increased focus on consultations and building public awareness of the scheme.

A senate estimates hearing was told that the Abbott government spent more than one billion dollars this financial year to house approximately 2200 asylum seekers in offshore detention centres in PNG and Nauru. A spokeswoman for the Immigration Minister defended the costs as almost $100 million less than the previous financial year.

Cambodian officials reportedly travelled to Australia this week, prior to flying to Nauru to meet refugees to discuss their option to be resettled in Cambodia. Cambodian Interior Ministry said that refugees would be given a 'realistic' picture of contemporary Cambodia.

Lebanon has closed its borders to Syrians fleeing their country's civil war as refugees, with the exception of ‘emergency cases’. The border will remain open for people traveling for other purposes.