Weekly media wrap - 4 April 2017

International Health and Medical Services ceased operations at the Manus Island detention centre on 31 March. This follows an ongoing medical licensing issue. Some IHMS staff were instructed to remain on the island, suggesting that the company may be able to resume its work shortly.

In the continued repatriation of asylum seekers held on Manus Island, five Lebanese detainees were returned to Lebanon. There are reports that the men were pressured to consent to their removal and were offered payments of up to $25,000 each. A sixth man is being held in police custody to discuss his voluntary repatriation after committing an act of self-harm after boarding the plane.

UNHCR will refer a minimum of 850 refugees from Manus Island and Nauru for resettlement in the United States. After speculation that the US-Australia deal would not go ahead with the new Trump administration, this is one of the first signs that the deal is progressing as originally intended under the Obama administration.

Weekly media wrap - 27 March 2017

Protesters gathered outside Sydney’s Villawood Detention Centre in an attempt to prevent the deportation of a 60-year-old Iraqi asylum seeker known as ‘Saeed’. Following a recent hunger strike, Saeed was shifted from Melbourne to Villawood, during which time he was denied access to his lawyer. In response to the protest, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection stated: ‘This individual has had their claims for protection carefully assessed. It is now expected they should depart Australia.’

The Nauruan government detained two Australian Wilson security officers after revoking their visas. It is understood that the guards, who had been working at Nauru’s Australian-run immigration detention centre, were not charged with any crime or wrongdoing. Their detention followed Wilson Security’s decision not to hire a local Nauruan, provoking concerns that it was ‘political payback’.

The partner of Iranian refugee Omid Masoumali, who died after setting himself alight in protest on Nauru in April 2016, spoke publicly for the first time about her grief and trauma.  Pari, who has been in isolated detention in Australia since Omid’s death, now suffers from ‘complex post-traumatic stress disorder with depression and associated panic attacks’, according to clinical psychiatrist Helen Driscoll. Natasha Blucher, detention advocacy manager with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, urged the government to ‘put all of the politics aside’ and release Pari. 

Weekly media wrap - 22 March 2017

A riot reportedly occurred at the Manus Island detention centre on Friday. Detainee Behrouz Boochani stated that this followed the erection of a fence between the kitchen and detainees. Guards claimed that the fence was erected as some detainees had been taking too much food.

On Friday, a judge rejected a submission by the Australian government that the Federal Court did not have jurisdiction to hear a challenge to the government’s proposed ban on mobile phones in detention centres. Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg claimed the phones are being used to commit crimes in detention centres, but human rights lawyer George Newhouse said that they ‘provide asylum seekers with vital access to the outside world and to loved ones’.

At least 42 Somali asylum seekers died on Saturday when an Apache helicopter reportedly fired at the boat in which they were travelling. The asylum seekers were carrying official UNHCR documents and travelling from Yemen to Sudan. 

Weekly media wrap - 13 March 2017

This week the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse examined Australia’s immigration detention, including offshore detention. The commission heard that a government-commissioned child protection panel failed to interview any children before making recommendations about child safety in immigration detention. It also heard that immigration minister Peter Dutton was involved in delaying the public release of the Making Children Safer report, which reviewed 242 alleged incidents of abuse.

A case was brought to the High Court by Victoria Legal Aid on behalf of two female asylum seekers brought to Australia from Nauru for medical treatment. Victoria Legal Aid filed a constitutional challenge to the legality of detaining asylum seekers transferred from offshore detention facilities to the country for temporary purposes, such as medical treatment. A decision is not expected to be made immediately.

A 28-year-old Pakistani refugee on Manus Island was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in Lorengau. The man is expected to appear in court this week. This alleged sexual assault is the second such incident reported in the town of Lorengau that involves the transferred populations of refugees and asylum seekers. 

Weekly media wrap - 6 March 2017

The Australian immigration department reduced the amount of time that asylum seekers have to apply for protection visas from one year to 60 days. Lawyers at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service expressed concerns that the shortened deadline would lead to rushed applications that would inevitably fail.

An asylum seeker with genetic skeletal dysplasia was allowed to stay in Port Moresby after the National Justice Project obtained an injunction to stop him from being transferred back to the Manus Island detention centre. The National Justice Project took the action on behalf of the man after receiving advice that it was unsafe for him to be returned to the detention centre without a proper diagnosis and treatment plan.

A Nepalese asylum seeker reported being destitute and in hiding after being involuntarily removed from the Manus Island detention centre and returned to Nepal three weeks ago. The Australian immigration department denied involvement with such deportations, stating that these were ‘matters for the Government of PNG.’

It appears that International Health and Medical Services (IHMS), the company providing health services for detainees in the Manus Island detention centre, has been operating illegally on the island for the past three years. An independent review committee handed down findings that International SOS, the company that owns IHMS, ‘intentionally breached’ PNG law by failing to register the clinic with the Papua New Guinea Medical Board.

The Australian Border Force is investigating the extent of post-traumatic stress disorder in its workforce, allegedly caused by workers having to retrieve the bodies of asylum seekers at sea. Border Force chief Roman Quaedvleig stated at a Senate estimates hearing that there was ‘significant anecdotal evidence’ of such trauma. 

Weekly media wrap - 28 February 2017

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop travelled to the US to meet with new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Ms Bishop clarified earlier comments from immigration minister Peter Dutton, in which he linked the Turnbull Government’s refugee deal with the Obama administration to Australia’s plans to resettle Central American refugees. Ms Bishop stated that the ‘people swap’ was not contingent on Australia’s resettlement plans.  

Refugee advocates say about 80 asylum seekers  will not lose their mobile phones following an injunction stopping Australian Border Force staff from confiscating them. 

A Vietnamese asylum seeker returned by Australia in 2015 was sentenced to three years in prison for illegally leaving the country.  

Weekly media wrap - 22 February 2017

Reports emerged that Australian immigration officials have been offering up to $25,000 to asylum seekers held on Manus Island to return to their home countries voluntarily. Meanwhile, officials allegedly forcibly removed at least one man from Manus Island this week. In related news, on 14 February a motion in the Australian Senate highlighting the UNHCR’s concerns over forced deportations from Manus Island was defeated. The UNHCR stated that no deportations should be occurring due to concerns over how claims were being processed.

After over two years of preparation, Slater and Gordon will launch a class action against Australia’s federal government in May on behalf of more than 1900 asylum seekers held on Manus Island. The law firm will claim that the detainees should be compensated for physical and psychological injuries as well as false imprisonment. Further, the Stanford International Human Rights Clinic announced that it would seek to take Australia to the International Criminal Court for its treatment of asylum seekers in offshore detention centres.

On an official visit to Australia, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe urged asylum seekers in Australian-run immigration detention centres to return to Sri Lanka. However, human rights lawyer Lakshan Dias warned against returning, saying that the situation in Sri Lanka was still dangerous. Meanwhile, New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English reiterated his country’s offer to accept 150 asylum seekers from Australia’s offshore camps on Nauru and Manus Island. 

Weekly media wrap - 14 February 2017

Papua New Guinea authorities attempted to deport two Nepalese asylum seekers. One was removed from the processing centre for deportation, while the other escaped and has been pursued by police. A local PNG newspaper, The Post Courier, reported that the PNG government sought travel documents for 60 people whose asylum claims had been denied, with a view to deport them to their home countries within a few weeks. The Australian Attorney-General, George Brandis, advised parliament that these men were given ‘negative’ assessments by Papua New Guinea’s immigration authority.

The inquest into the death of Hamid Kehazaei continues this week. Kehazaei, who was held on Manus Island, died as a result of fatal blood poisoning (sepsis) in 2014. The inquest heard that staff at the Pacific International Hospital in Port Moresby appeared not to understand how critically ill Kehazaei was.

A Senate committee heard evidence this week as part of an inquiry into abuse, self-harm and neglect in regional offshore processing centres. The evidence included testimony from senior immigration department officials about the standard of healthcare in offshore detention facilities on Manus Island and Nauru. The committee heard of the case of Faysal Ishak Ahmed, a refugee on Manus Island who sought medical assistance 13 times over two months before he died.

A petition was submitted to the International Criminal Court by the Global Legal Action Network. The petition alleges that Australia’s offshore immigration detention regime could constitute a crime against humanity. 

Weekly media wrap - 7 February 2017

After committing to honour the refugee resettlement deal made between the Obama administration and the Australian government, US President Donald Trump tweeted after speaking with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that the deal was ‘dumb’. Since the phone call, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop claimed that the two countries were working through details and that the deal would go ahead, and White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the deal would be honoured ‘in some way’. However, following this, US immigration officials postponed interviews with asylum seekers on Nauru, suggesting a block on progress with the deal.

In the light of the US-Australia refugee deal, President Trump’s immigration ban and continuing medical emergencies on Manus Island and Nauru, several hundred people protested outside Parliament House in Canberra on Saturday, demanding that asylum seekers held on Manus Island and Nauru be brought to Australia.

On Friday, a pregnant 37-year-old Kuwaiti asylum seeker known as Dee, who appears to be suffering from pre-eclampsia, was airlifted to Australia from Nauru for the delivery of her baby. The move was made after a month of heavy lobbying of the Australian government by doctors. The government initially resisted, saying that there were ‘comprehensive’ medical services on the island.

Loghman Sawari, an Iranian asylum seeker who fled to Fiji after being held on Manus Island for three years, was deported back to Papua New Guinea 10 days later by the Fijian government. Fiji’s attorney-general stated that Sawari was deported because he had entered Fiji on a fraudulent passport and because the UNHCR had advised Fiji that Sawari was not deemed a refugee under their mandate. However, a statement released by the UNHCR expressed ‘regrets that interventions to prevent Mr Sawari’s forced return were not successful’.  

Weekly media wrap - 31 January 2017

US President Donald Trump committed to honour the US-Australia deal to resettle refugees currently held on Manus Island and Nauru in the United States.  The commitment came just days after Trump signed an executive order suspending all refugee admissions into the US for 120 days, barring Syrian refugees indefinitely, and banning travel to the US for 90 days from seven majority Muslim countries – Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.

In the days between Trump signing the order and committing to honour the US-Australia deal, an Iranian refugee being held on Nauru attempted suicide.  The teenager, who has been held on Nauru since 2013, attempted to hang himself before being arrested and taken to jail.

Ahwazi Arab Loghman Sawari, an Iranian refugee who spent more than three years on Manus Island, fled to Fiji and is seeking asylum there.  Sawari stated: ‘The people [in Fiji] have made me feel safe. I was never, not for one day, safe in PNG.’

Weekly media wrap - 24 January 2017

The Australian National Audit Office published a report showing that the Department of Immigration and Border Protection spent $2.2 billion without appropriate authorisations. The department’s deputy secretary Jenet Connell acknowledged the lack of documentary evidence showing approvals, but claimed that the majority of payments were ‘fixed monthly contractual fees which are dependent on the number of residents in the [regional processing centres]’.  

A Senate committee is set to investigate the death of Sudanese refugee Faysal Ishak Ahmed. Ahmed died in Brisbane Hospital on Christmas Eve after collapsing at the Manus Island processing centre. The immigration department has stated that it is unaware of any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

The United Nations called for an investigation into the arrest and beating of two Iranian asylum seekers on Manus Island on New Year’s Eve. Kedar Poudyal, an advisor at the UN Human Rights Office in Port Moresby, expressed the need for an investigation. However, Manus Province police commander David Yapu has said previously that no such investigation will be conducted due to the likelihood that the men were injured while resisting arrest. 

Weekly media wrap - 16 January 2017

The US-Australia deal to settle refugees held on Manus Island and Nauru appears to be under threat. Texan Congressman Brian Babin said that President-elect Donald Trump would do ‘everything in his power’ to prevent the deal from going ahead. Immigration minister Peter Dutton has refused to comment; however, a spokesman for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull expressed confidence that the deal would proceed. Labor’s immigration spokesman Shayne Newman voiced ongoing support for the deal, but urged the government to reveal more information about the progress of negotiations.

A global report released this week by human rights advocacy organisation Human Rights Watch described Australia’s asylum seeker policies as ‘draconian’.  A spokesperson for the organisation said that ‘[i]f Australia wants to be a global human rights leader, then it should take immediate steps to end these unlawful policies.’ 

Weekly media wrap - 10 January 2017

On New Year’s Eve, two Iranian asylum seekers were allegedly beaten by PNG police on Manus Island. The men claim that they were on their way into town when they were stopped by PNG immigration officers and then beaten by up to 10 police officers. Immigration minister Peter Dutton said that he was ‘wait[ing] to see the full facts of [the] case before [he made] any comment’.

Republican congressman Brian Babin stated that Donald Trump will block the Australia-US deal that would see asylum seekers from Manus Island and Nauru resettled in the US. About 100 people on Nauru have already been processed for resettlement. A spokesman for Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that he remained confident that the deal would go ahead. 

Weekly media wrap - 2 January 2017

More details emerged following the death of Sudanese refugee Faysal Ishak Ahmed in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital on 23 December. The Guardian reported that both Ahmed and a group of fellow asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island had written letters to International Health and Medical Services – the company contracted to provide health services for Australia’s detention centres – with concerns for Mr Ahmed’s faltering health up to two months before his death. Health professionals urged an independent review of Australia's medical operations on Manus Island and Nauru in response, while Manus Island MP Ronnie Knight said Australia must build and staff a hospital on the island to prevent further deaths.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said that Mr Ahmed’s family have yet to be contacted by Australian Government representatives about his death, but have requested via refugee advocates that Mr Ahmed’s body be returned to Sudan.

The International Organisation for Migration reported that more than 7000 migrants and refugees died, or remain missing, on the world's migratory routes in 2016. These numbers far exceed those of 2014 and 2015, and are the highest annual number recorded by the IOM.

Weekly media wrap - 27 December 2016

On Saturday, 24-year-old Sudanese refugee Faysal Ishak Ahmed died in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. Ahmed suffered a collapse in the Manus Island detention centre, which resulted in him being airlifted to Australia for urgent treatment. Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul stated that Ahmed had made numerous complaints to staff because of a lack of treatment.

In response to Ahmed’s death, asylum seekers on Manus Island rioted, taking control of two compounds and expelling guards from the detention centre. Senior Sergeant Thomas Lelepo told Reuters that order had been restored on Sunday.

In related news, a refugee held at the Nauru detention centre, identified as ‘Yusuf’, told The Guardian that he has been denied necessary medical treatment after suffering a heart attack. After presenting at the Nauru hospital needing treatment for which the hospital lacked the facilities, IHMS approved his transfer to Papua New Guinea, but over one month later he has still not been transferred. 

Weekly media wrap - 20 December 2016

The Federal Court found that immigration minister Peter Dutton unreasonably delayed making decisions on refugees’ applications for citizenship. Advocates say that the decision will provide hope to thousands who have had their cases ‘put in the bottom drawer’.

Michael Pezzullo, the Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, travelled to the US to shore up the refugee resettlement deal that Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull struck with outgoing President Barack Obama. Pezzullo and other senior bureaucrats discussed operational details of the deal in a series of meetings with Department of Homeland Security officials and figures connected to President-elect Trump.

The planned evacuation of refugees from Aleppo, Syria was halted amid reports of an attack on a convoy leaving rebel-held areas. Late in the week, opposition rebels and pro-government forces reached a new deal to enable over 6000 remaining civilians and fighters to leave the besieged city.

Weekly media wrap - 12 December 2016

A two-week coronial inquest into the death of Hamid Kehazaei, an asylum seeker who had been detained on Manus Island, concluded this week in Queensland. Kehazaei died at Brisbane's Mater Hospital as a result of severe sepsis from a leg infection in September 2014. The inquest heard new evidence from medical staff and health professionals, as well as from Department of Immigration and Border Protection staff. Evidence detailed the worsening condition of Kehazaei while being treated in detention and the limited responses that ultimately led to his death.

In the United States, two influential Republican politicians wrote to the Obama administration demanding declassification of information about the deal with the Australian Government to resettle refugees currently on Manus Island and Nauru. Commentators have recognised a potential risk to this resettlement deal when Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes office in early 2017.

This week, around 500 teachers across Australia will wear shirts with messages calling for an end to Australia’s offshore detention of refugees on Manus Island and Nauru. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has condemned the protest, coordinated by Teachers for Refugees, as ‘absolutely inappropriate in classrooms’ because ‘teachers should be focused on teaching’.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce offered support for the replication and expansion of a successful refugee resettlement model in rural northern New South Wales. The arrival of three refugee families has helped to revive the small town of Mingoola. 

Weekly media wrap - 6 December 2016

Activists protesting Australia’s refugee policies glued their hands to the railing in the House of Representatives public gallery on Wednesday, causing Question Time to be adjourned. Protests continued on Thursday. The Whistleblowers, Activists and Citizens Alliance took responsibility for the protests.

President-elect Donald Trump stated that he would stop refugees from the Middle East from entering the US ‘dead cold flat’, throwing into doubt the resettlement deal with Australia. Prime Minister Turnbull played down these doubts, claiming that the Australian government was ‘confident that [the deal would] continue through the change of administration’.

The inquest into the 2013 death of asylum seeker Hamid Kehazaei began this week. Kehazaei died of sepsis from a leg infection 13 days after presenting for treatment at the Manus Island clinic. The inquest heard that Australia’s immigration department frequently dismisses doctors’ advice to transport critically ill detainees to hospital. 

Weekly media wrap - 29 November 2016

Crossbench senators denied their support to the controversial bill to impose a lifetime ban on all asylum seekers who arrive by boat from entering Australia. Without this support, the bill will fail to pass unless key amendments are made. Relatedly, a parliamentary joint committee on human rights released a report on Tuesday stating that the bill in its present form could constitute both direct and indirect discrimination. Despite this, the five Liberal members of the committee maintained that the ban should be legislated.  

Volker Turk, the UNHCR’s assistant high commissioner for protection, called the Australian government’s failure to process the 30,000 asylum seekers in the community on bridging visas ‘a social time bomb’. He expressed to Fairfax Media that it is ‘very urgent’ to resolve this issue, in order to ‘make sure that people can get on with their lives’.

Turk also stated that UNHCR staff would help with screening and resettlement in Australia’s refugee deal with the US, but only as a ‘one-off’. The details of the deal remain unclear, with two senior Republicans writing to the Obama administration to appeal for more information.

Results of a new Monash University survey show that although Australians strongly support taking migrants through the humanitarian program, a majority of Australians disapprove of asylum seekers arriving by boat. Only 2% of those surveyed agreed that Australia’s poor treatment of refugees was the biggest issue facing Australia today.

Weekly media wrap - 22 November 2016

The UNHCR submitted a mental health report to the Senate inquiry into abuse, self-harm and neglect on Nauru and Manus Island. The study reported psychological disorders in 88 per cent of the 181 asylum seekers and refugees who were examined, including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. According to the report, these findings are ‘amongst the highest recorded rates of any surveyed population’. The study was included in a broader UNHCR submission.

In a Sky News interview with Andrew Bolt, immigration minister Peter Dutton stated that former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser made mistakes in allowing certain migrants into Australia in the 1970s. Claiming that a large number of foreign fighters in conflict zones are descendants of these migrants, Dutton argued that Australia is paying for Fraser’s errors. When challenged during Question Time by opposition leader Bill Shorten, Dutton responded: ‘Of the last 33 people who have been charged with terrorist-related offences in this country, 22 of those people are from second- and third-generation Lebanese-Muslim background’. The Lebanese Muslim Association responded, labelling Dutton’s comments reckless.

Dutton told ABC’s Australian Story that the federal government may accept more refugees from Syria and Iraq. The immigration department has reported that of the 12,000 extra humanitarian visas announced under the Abbott Government in September 2015, 6507 refugees have so far been settled in Australia. Defending the often ‘long and protracted’ security process involved in screening and settling refugees, Dutton suggested that ‘if people have faith in the integrity of the process … it does give the government the ability to expand’. 

Francois Crepeau, United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, concluded an 18-day visit to Australia, finding that hate speech, xenophobia and nationalism have increased. Impressing the importance of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth), Crepeau stated: ‘Politicians who have engaged in this negative discourse seem to have given permission to people on the street to act in xenophobic ways and to allow for the rise of nationalist groups’.

In a final meeting between Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and US President Barack Obama, the leaders discussed the agreement for US resettlement of refugees from Nauru and Manus Island. It remains unclear whether President-elect Donald Trump will honour the agreement after he assumes office on January 20, 2017.