Weekly media wrap - 22 February 2020

The Commonwealth Ombudsman released its annual report on conditions in immigration detention facilities. Among the findings, the Ombudsman found that the high security wing of the Villawood Detention Centre (Blaxland compound) was unfit for use due to overcrowding and poor facilities. The government has stated that the compound is due to be demolished this year. The Ombudsman reported concern about the conditions of detention in hotels, which are being used as Alternative Places of Detention (in Brisbane and Melbourne). It found them to be inappropriate due to lack of outdoor space and the fact that medical consultations are being conducted in rooms that do not afford sufficient privacy. The public release of the report has come about since Australia signed the UN Optional Protocol on the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) in 2017.

A group of refugees were injured in an attack on their Port Moresby accommodation on Tuesday night. The refugees, who were previously detained on Manus Island, reported that they were accosted by a group of drunk men and the situation escalated into a fight as they tried to force their way into the accommodation yelling "we will kill you; get out of our country." According to the refugees the police were unable to respond immediately because they had no fuel in their squad car. A policeman reportedly arrived at the scene some hours later and dispersed the crowd with a gunshot fired into the air.

A federal court judge agreed that the government had been “overenthusiastic” in redacting the documents that were given to the lawyers representing the Biloela family. The comments were made in a pre-hearing for the family’s 22 February court date. The documents included discussions between Minister Dutton and the Sri Lankan Government, which the government argues required redacting due to national security concerns. The judge noted he was inclined to agree but reserved his decision about whether their full disclosure would be necessary until the full hearing was underway. The family remains detained on Christmas Island and are engaged in an ongoing legal case to stop their deportation.

The Australian newspaper published a detailed background on the case of the so-called ‘Biloela family’ who are fighting deportation. The article detailed how they came to be in Australia, their asylum history and their experience of detention. It published a follow-up report that the family could be moved into a house owned by the Commonwealth on Christmas Island in anticipation that the legal case may take atleast another year to conclude.  

Latest figures, reported in the Age showed that around 50,000 people who entered Australia by plane and have failed in their asylum claim, remain in Australia. The report stated that in the past month less than two dozen of them were deported, indicating the backlog is growing.    

A detainee at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (MITA) complained of heavy handed treatment by security guards that resulted in him requiring treatment for broken bones twice in the past four months. The detainee claimed that his collar bone was broken when officers pinned him down after he had threatened self-harm. Additionally, he claimed that his elbow was fractured after he was restrained by guards following an altercation. Serco, the company responsible for security at immigration detention facilities in Australia, refused to comment on the first incident and stated that the second incident started when the detainee had damaged property.

Weekly media wrap - 15 February 2020

An International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation has found that the Australian offshore processing regime may have breached international law but there is not enough evidence to prosecute on grounds of crimes against humanity. While ‘cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment’ of asylum seekers was found, this varied over time, and was not done with the purpose of ‘attack’ or on discriminatory grounds, said the ICC. However, it noted that ‘the gravity of the alleged conduct thus appears to have been such that it was in violation of fundamental rules of international law’, but this is not within the jurisdiction of the ICC.  Independent member Andrew Wilkie MP has been raising these issues with the ICC for 5 years and brought the case for crimes against humanity to the ICC. He regarded the report as vindication of the complaint, being a ‘remarkable condemnation’ of the policy.

The Australian OPCAT Network laid out concerns about ‘cruel and arbitrary treatment’ in Australia’s immigration detention system. The report is to the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), ahead of their visits to Australia in 2020. Australia ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) in December 2017.

Further delays are likely in hearing the trauma compensation claims made by 63 people who were asylum seekers held at either Baxter or Woomera detentions centres after 2000. The Commonwealth government appealed to the High Court against a South Australian court decision to allow the lead claimant to re-file his 2012 claim with new evidence about the alleged mistreatment. The claims, mainly of de-humanising treatment causing ongoing psychological problems, are now unlikely to be resolved for another five years, say legal sources. In 2017, the Commonwealth paid $70 million to settle a class action taken on behalf of 1900 asylum seekers held on Manus Island between 2012 and 2016.

Tamils living in India have said are saying that changes to India’s citizenship laws in December last year are discriminatory, and likely to generate departures to countries such as Australia in future. Tamils who have fled Sri Lanka to India are unable to obtain Indian citizenship and restricted in their civil rights. The new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) offers citizenship to non-Muslims fleeing religious persecution from three nearby countries: Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Sri Lanka and Myanmar are not included. The Sri Lankan Navy says irregular migration from Sri Lanka to Australia and New Zealand saw a sharp increase in 2019.

 A group of eight young Indonesian fishermen, jailed in Australia as people smugglers ten years ago, have sought are seeking the Federal Court to allow appeals which may quash their convictions. Their claim is that they were as young as 12 years old at the time, but the Australian government wrongly imprisoned, rather than deported, them. West Australian courts accepted wrist x-ray tests which suggested they were older, but the government ignored later advice from the Human Rights Commission that the tests were flawed, and 120 Indonesians were wrongly jailed in adult prisons. The Commission is also considering further complaints that they young men have been victims of racial discrimination.

In a wide-ranging interview with Patricia Karvelas on ABC Radio National, Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie was repeatedly asked about her secret deal with the Australian government on redeployment of offshore detainees. The main comment extracted was that she would like to see all moved to “where they need to go... so they can get on with their lives”, but not those who are security risks.

Journalist Osman Faruqi wrote a reflective article about the use of the Christmas Island detention facility for quarantine of potential coronavirus victims. The protection of “us” is the theme, which he believes that that still means white Australians.

Weekly media wrap – 9 February 2020

The government has committed to a revised and more flexible approach to English language programs offered to humanitarian refugees and alternative methods of connecting refugees with employment. This follows a recent review of Australia’s humanitarian refugee resettlement program which calls for significant reform to language and employment services. Only a small minority of refugees are completing the 1,000 hours of free English classes provided and the refugee unemployment rate remains high.

As part of these reforms, refugees will be incentivised to resettle in regional areas. While over 70 per cent of refugees are currently settling in the major cities of Sydney Brisbane and Melbourne, there is now a target of 50 per cent of humanitarian arrivals to be settled in regional centres by 2022. A new Refugee and Migrant Services Advisory Council is being established to engage businesses and encourage new training and employment programs. Refugee advocacy and service organisations have welcomed the government’s focus on employment as a key aspect of settlement.

Clashes erupted between of thousands of asylum seekers and security forces on the Greek island of Lesbos, amid escalating tensions due to poor and severely overcrowded conditions of the migrant camps and delays in processing. Extra squads of riot police were called in, and teargas was used on the protestors, who are mainly Afghan asylum seekers. The United Nations has called on authorities to move thousands of refugees currently on Greek islands to the mainland.

Weekly media wrap - 4 February 2020

Eighteen men who were held in Papua New Guinea’s Bomana immigration detention centre were released and moved to three hotels in Port Moresby. The eighteen men were the final remaining group of 53 men who had been arrested by PNG authorities in August 2019. Refugee advocates have expressed concern for the health and wellbeing of this group as a result of the detention conditions. 

New data from the Australian Department of Home Affairs shows expenditure of $6.1 million in 2018-19 on flights transferring refugees and asylum seekers interstate and between detention centres last year. The questions on notice also showed the department spent $111 million on legal costs in 2018-19, which is a $19 million increase from the 2017-18 spend. 

The Tamil family detained on Christmas Island were unaware that coronavirus evacuees from the Chinese city of Wuhan would be quarantined on the island, until they were told by a journalist. The family are currently the sole inhabitants of the island’s detention centre. 

A landmark decision by the United Nations Human Rights Committee found it unlawful to force ‘climate refugees’ to return to their home countries. The Committee considered a challenge brought by Kiribati man, Mr Ioane Teitiota. While the committee found he was not at imminent risk, it did find that such claims may be upheld in future as the impacts of climate change worsen. The decision is non-binding but is expected to pave the way for more claims from people in the Pacific.

Weekly media wrap - 24 December 2019

More than 40 people who were transferred from Manus Island to Australia for medical treatment under the recently repealed medevac law are reportedly being held on one floor of a Mantra hotel in the inner north of Melbourne under guard. The hotel is designated as an ‘alternative place of accommodation’. Reports from this group indicate that they have no access outside of the hotel unless they apply to visit the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation detention centre in Broadmeadows, and that some men have been in the hotel for months without adequate medical treatment. The Human Rights Commission condemned the detention of the transferees after inspecting conditions this week.

As part of an advertising campaign, the Department of Home Affairs created horoscopes to discourage Sri Lankans from seeking asylum in Australia by boat. The material, obtained under freedom of information laws, imagined various negative predictions for each star sign if they ‘illegally’ travelled to Australia by boat. 

A UNSW survey of more than 1000 refugees and asylum seekers found people with uncertain, temporary visas were more likely to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder and depression than those with permanent visas. The survey also showed that people with these uncertain visas were also found to be more socially engaged and more involved in the Australian community.

In the US, the Trump administration proposed additional mandatory limits for asylum seekers, specifically targeting migrants who have committed certain crimes. Under the proposal, asylum seekers would be found ineligible for crimes committed in the US such as: a felony under federal or state law, alien smuggling or harbouring, illegal re-entry, crime involving criminal street gang activity, domestic violence (including with no conviction) and offences related to false identification.

Weekly media wrap - 16 December 2019

Finance Minister Matthias Corman denied there had been any government deal with Senator Jacqui Lambie about the Medevac repeal legislation passed last week. On national security grounds, Senator Lambie remains silent about what she believes was promised. Speculation has been that pursuit of the New Zealand resettlement offer will be resumed once alternative options, such as the US transfers, have been exhausted. Home Affairs Minister Dutton has downplayed the NZ offer, emphasising the need to keep refugee boats stopped. 

Labor’s Senator Keneally called for Minister Dutton to comment on how a national security briefing critical of the repealed Medevac legislation was leaked to News Corp and subsequently published. Home Affairs referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police, who have not been able to identify the source. Senator Keneally has asked the Minister to have all emails from one of his staff members who was in contact with the journalist who published the story handed over to police for examination.

In a speech at Deakin University, Labor backbencher Peter Khalil called for more tangible support for refugees from rich countries, including accepting significant numbers for resettlement, and substantial financial contributions from countries who refuse. He said the UN Global Refugee Forum next week is an opportunity to develop viable plans for the current crisis. 

At the International Court of Justice hearing in The Hague, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was present to hear the case against Myanmar of breaching the 1948 Genocide Convention through its actions against the Rohingya people. The case alleges mass murder, rape and expulsion and seeks emergency measures to prevent further violence. It has been brought by The Gambia, supported by Canada, Netherlands and the 57-country Organisation for Islamic Cooperation. Only once previously – in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia – has the ICJ ruled that genocide was committed. 

Weekly media wrap - 9 December 2019

The medevac legislation was repealed by the Senate following extensive debates and negotiations with crossbenchers. The repeal bill dismantles the legislation that was passed earlier this year which allowed doctors to determine whether refugees in offshore facilities should be transferred to Australia for medical treatment, with full discretion now to be returned to ministers. Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie, who held the crucial vote needed to repeal the laws, refused to reveal the details of her negotiations with the government, insisting it was a matter of national security and claiming that the outcome would improve medical treatment for refugees being held in offshore detention. 

The medevac repeal has been widely condemned by Australian doctors and human rights and refugee advocacy organisations. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed disappointment at the repeal and urged the government to accept New Zealand’s offer to resettle asylum seekers. 

Meanwhile, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed that NZ’s longstanding offer to resettle refugees from Australia’s offshore detention locations remains on the table. When asked whether Australia would accept the offer, Prime Minister Scott Morison replied that Australia remains committed to ensuring those on Nauru are resettled. Further, Senator Lambie refused to respond to speculation regarding the New Zealand resettlement offer forming part of her medevac repeal negotiations. 

The Australian Senate called on the government to expedite the asylum claims for two gay Saudi journalists and sought acknowledgement for the significant risk they face due to their sexuality. The two men have been detained for over a month following their arrival at an Australian airport on valid tourist visas. International news organisations have urged the Australian Government to grant the men asylum and release them from detention, warning that many media outlets around the world are closely monitoring this case. 

A new report released by advocacy groups stated that Australia’s offshore detention regime will cost Australia taxpayers $1.2 billion over the next three years, on top of the $9 billion spent on offshore processing and onshore mandatory detention between 2016 and 2020. The ‘At What Cost’ report by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Save the Children and GetUp found the cost is equivalent to over $573,000 per year on each asylum seeker and refugee being held offshore, whereas detaining asylum seekers on the Australian mainland or keeping them in the community on bridging visas would be significantly cheaper. 

Weekly media wrap - 1 December 2019

Jacqui Lambie released a statement this week that outlined her position on the medevac repeal bill, saying she will support the repeal only if the government meets one undisclosed condition. This condition was not revealed on national security grounds. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported that Lambie canvassed with the government a potential third-country resettlement deal for those still on Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

Sri Lankan asylum seeker Shaminda Kanapathi, who is in Port Moresby, made a last-minute appeal to Senator Lambie, saying to media that the repeal would have severe consequences. Meanwhile, 5040 doctors have signed an open letter to the Australian Parliament, advocating for the medevac legislation to remain in place.

The Guardian reports that there was no written record of the advice provided by the Australian Border Force commissioner that led to a family of Tamil asylum seekers from Biloela being kept in detention on Christmas Island while waiting for a court date. The court is expected to decide if the government properly considered whether the youngest child is owed protection. The rest of the family have had their claims rejected. The four asylum seekers are the only residents of the Christmas Island detention centre. 

Wilson Security settled out of court with a refugee who alleges she was raped while being held in detention on Nauru. The Australian Government contracted Wilson Security to operate security at the Manus Island and Nauru regional processing centres. The case was scheduled to begin in the Victorian supreme court, but the parties reached a settlement the day it was due to begin. This settlement ends a five year legal battle.

The Scanlon Foundation’s 2019 national Mapping Social Cohesion survey report was released this week. The survey found that 61% of Australians disapprove of asylum seekers making their way here by boat, and 47% have little or no concern about the treatment of asylum seekers in PNG and Nauru.

Weekly media wrap - 28 November 2019

The UN Human Rights Committee confirmed it is investigating the case of a Vietnamese woman who is subject to deportation and separation from her Australian-born baby. The woman has been in detention since 2017 and gave birth to her daughter while in detention. Her asylum claim was refused and her deportation was ordered. The UN asked the Australian Government to put off deportation until their investigation is complete and the government has confirmed it is now undertaking its own investigation into the matter. 

Behrouz Boochani told Radio NZ that the conditions in Bomana prison will lead to more deaths. He said the men have lost a lot of weight, do not have access to their mobile phones and are not getting any medical treatment. His fears are echoed by the Australian Director of Human Rights Watch, Elaine Pearson. Ms Pearson argued that the detention conditions contravene local and international law. 

Two Saudi men, a couple, who have been held in immigration detention since they arrived in Australia say they have been treated like criminals and fear for their safety in detention. In a Radio National interview they explained that they were questioned by Australian Border Force officers at the airport where they admitted that they intended to apply for asylum. On arrival at the detention centre their room-mates reportedly threatened them and refused to allow them into their allocated rooms.

Craig Foster called on MPs to go to PNG and Nauru to meet the people who would be affected by a repeal of the medevac legislation. Foster is a former Socceroo and led the campaign to secure Hakim Al-Araibi’s return to Australia. The Government is committed to repealing the medevac legislation and needs the support of the Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie to achieve this. 

Weekly media wrap - 17 November 2019

Doctors who have referred offshore patients to Australia for medical treatment are unhappy with the quality and timeliness of the government’s response. The doctors say that a lack of face-to-face interpreter services and bureaucratic and Ministerial delays could be impeding medical care, especially for those with mental health issues. The government wants to repeal the Medevac legislation, which allows doctors to refer patients to Australia if necessary, subject to Ministerial veto. Medevac supporters rallied in capital cities, and rural supporters gathered at Parliament House this week to tell MPs they were against the repeal. The Refugee Council of Australia believes the vote will be deferred until after 25 November, as the government doesn’t yet have the numbers in the Senate. Senator Lambie holds the effective casting vote, and said she is still considering her decision.

Behrouz Boochani, the well-known Kurdish poet and author of No Friend but the Mountains, left Papua New Guinea after 6 years, and said he is not going back. Currently in New Zealand for a literary event, it is unclear whether he will claim political asylum there, or continue to the US where he was offered a protection visa, which may now be affected by his visit to NZ. His story of the conditions at Manus Island is widely hailed and received a number of literary awards. He was a public campaigner for his fellow prisoners, and gained much attention towards their plight.

The trial of the Nauru 19 starts this coming Monday on the island, but two of the group have applied for political asylum in Australia. Their charges relate to protests in 2015 against the expulsion of three MPs from Nauru’s parliament for their criticism of the government. There is criticism from inside and outside the country of government interference with the judicial system.

Detainees at the Bomana Immigration Centre in Port Moresby spoke out this week about conditions ‘designed to torture’ in the Australian-funded centre. The head of Australia’s offshore processing regime, Major General Craig Furini, said recently that the government does not know what goes on inside. The centre apparently holds 47 men, with six more released for imminent return to their origin country. The harsh conditions are said to include severe food and water rations, no books or phones, and no legal support or access to their families. 

Former refugees now in Australia are organising a concert at Bogor, Indonesia on December 2 for asylum seekers ‘stuck’ in Indonesian camps, with Australia unwilling to accept any of them for resettlement.  It is the third annual concert, and features Afghan singers from Australia, Sweden and Afghanistan, as well as a Tajik singer from Tajikistan. The event is near to Cisarua, where the Staging Post support project is based. Around 3000 attendees are expected.

Weekly media wrap - 11 November 2019

The federal government continued to progress its attempted repeal of the medevac laws, including negotiations with independent Senator Jacqui Lambie, whose vote is vital for the government’s repeal bill. Rallies calling for the retention of the laws are planned in Melbourne. 

A network of Australian expats in Canada have helped refugees from Manus Island and Nauru to resettle in Canada via the country’s unique private refugee sponsorship scheme. The network includes Australians living in Canada as well as Canadian locals who are raising funds and lodging applications to sponsor refugees from overseas (understood to be approximately $18,000 for each refugee). Two Iranian refugees are believed to have been resettled from Australia’s offshore detention system to Canada under the sponsorship scheme, and the groups are focusing on those refugees who are ineligible for the US resettlement program. 

Iraqi refugee and alleged people smuggler Maythem Kamil Radhi, who is accused of involvement in a 2001 smuggling operation which resulted in the drowning deaths of 353 asylum seekers, has been refused bail. Radhi is the third person to face court for their role in the disaster, which involved organising 421 mostly Iraqi and Afghan refugees on an Indonesian fishing boat bound for Australia. Bail was denied due to the Queensland magistrate considering there to be ‘substantial motivation’ for him to leave Australia. 

Professor Munjed Al Muderis, an orthopaedic surgeon, human rights advocate and former Iraqi refugee detained on Christmas Island, was named NSW Australian of the Year for 2020. Since fleeing Iraq by boat and being detained in Australia’s offshore system and several Australian jails, he is now known for innovations and breakthroughs in surgery and for assisting many Australians and people around the world, including returning to Iraq to assist victims of the conflict. 

Weekly media wrap - 3 November 2019

The Australian Government has contracted mining company CI Resources to maintain the Christmas Island detention centre for $20 million. This facility is currently only housing four people – the Tamil family from Biloela fighting deportation to Sri Lanka. It is understood that CI Resources will be responsible for transporting detention centre staff as well as general maintenance, repairs and cleaning. 96 Serco staff continue to work at the centre as guards, as part of a $2.5 billion contract with Home Affairs. 

Meanwhile, the 30-day time limit for the request made by the United Nations Human Rights Committee for the Australian Government to release the Tamil family from detention has now expired. The Department of Home Affairs has refused to comment further on the UN’s request, stating that the family would remain on Christmas Island ‘whilst the judicial review proceedings are before the court’.

A Queensland coroner ordered the reopening of the inquest into the death of Omid Masoumali, the 23-year-old Iranian refugee on Nauru who died after setting himself on fire three years ago. The inquest will now look at more evidence, including Mr Masoumali’s mental health treatment and request for psychological help in the weeks prior to his death. 

Over 200 athletes and officials who remained in Australia after going missing from the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games had their asylum seeker claims rejected. The majority of these were previously granted bridging visas whilst their applications were being considered. Many of those seeking asylum were African athletes and officials from Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Uganda. The majority have since lodged appeals with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Official documents show four appeals have already been dismissed, six asylum seekers have already returned to their home countries, and one asylum seeker remains in immigration detention. 

Weekly media wrap - 23 October 2019

An Afghan doctor who spent more than four years on Manus Island before being transferred to Australia for medical care died in Brisbane. Sayed Mirwais Rohani had been in Australia for approximately two years and is believed to have taken his own life. The 32-year-old’s death marks the thirteenth death of a person sent to Manus Island or Nauru by Australia under its offshore immigration policy. 

A Senate committee chaired by Liberal Senator Amanda Stoker recommended the medevac laws be repealed. The government-dominated committee found that the medevac legislation contained ‘significant flaws’. Despite this committee recommendation, support for the repeal remained split along party lines. The laws also continued to garner support from medical practitioners, with 11 of Australia’s leading medical colleges issuing a joint statement calling for the legislation to remain in place. Independent senator Jacqui Lambie now has the casting vote on the legislation. 

Despite long-running claims from Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Scott Morrison that the medevac legislation rendered the government powerless to block a transfer on security grounds, Dutton used his ministerial powers for the first time to override doctors’ recommendations to transfer an individual. In a parliamentary statement, Dutton said he refused the transfer because he believed it ‘would expose the Australian community to a serious risk of criminal conduct’. 

Greens Senator Nick McKim led a disallowance motion aimed to block the federal government’s expansion of its fast tracking of asylum seekers scheme. The processing scheme was put in place in 2015, and initially applied to asylum seekers who came by boat after 13 August 2012, who are not allowed to apply for permanent visas. The expansion of the scheme has meant that asylum seekers who applied before this date, but make subsequent temporary protection or safe haven visa applications, now also have their cases assessed through this pathway. Under the fast track process, asylum seekers have their cases resolved with the Immigration Assessment Authority, rather than going before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The motion is expected to go before the Senate in the next sitting week. 

The Guardian Australia reported on the transfer of a seriously mentally ill asylum seeker from Melbourne to Perth, where he spent almost a month held in detention and was admitted to hospital emergency or psychiatric departments six times. The young man’s ill health had been known to authorities and a Melbourne youth mental health facility was preparing to treat him at the time of the transfer. After more than three weeks in Western Australia he was flown back to Melbourne, where after several days he was admitted to the mental health facility that had initially offered to treat him. The transfer allegedly came without warning and without mental health consultation.

The Australian Government continued its refusal to release a report on refugee settlement, with Immigration Minister David Coleman rejecting an Order of the Senate to do so, claiming public interest immunity ‘as the documents referred to are under consideration of the Cabinet’.

Weekly media wrap - 14 October 2019

Some asylum seekers who have been approved for medevac transfers to Australia are among a group of 52 men who have been detained in Bomana immigration detention centre in Port Moresby for the past two months, without access to phones or lawyers. The Australian Government confirmed that approvals for medevacs have been ‘communicated’ to Port Moresby, but said the management of detainees inside the detention centre is a matter for the PNG Government.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, urged the Australian and Papua New Guinea Governments to work together to find a solution for the men who were denied refugee protection and who remain in Port Moresby. In Australia this week, Bachelet said no one was ‘taking responsibility’ for the more than 50 men who have been transferred to Bomana immigration detention centre in Papua New Guinea's capital, after failing in their bid for asylum in Australia. 

More than 95,000 people have sought asylum in Australia after arriving by plane in the past five years, but more than 84% were found not to have a valid claim. Figures revealed this week show that 4037 people who flew to Australia sought asylum in the first seven weeks of this financial year. This rate indicates a record high if the trajectory continues. However, the Australian Government commented that on annual comparisons there has been a decline. The Labor opposition raised concern that the refusal rate of applicants was an indicator that people making claims for asylum were at risk of labour exploitation. 

Average processing times for refugee applications has more than doubled in less than three years, to a peak of 786 days. Commentators are raising concerns that this is creating incentives for further arrivals. The number of active migration and refugee cases at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has also increased to 63,576 at the end of September 2019, up from 24,462 at the end of June 2017.

Internal emails from within the Department of Home Affairs revealed that the Australian Government reportedly considered cancelling the visa of refugee Hakeem al-Araibi, who was recently detained in Thailand. The emails, released under freedom of information laws, also showed that the Border Force officials initially failed to notify the Australian Federal Police of al-Araibi’s refugee status.

The UNHCR launched the Joint Data Centre this week, in collaboration with the World Bank. The Centre ‘aims to combine the former’s knowledge and data on refugees and displaced persons, with the latter’s global experience of poverty reduction, and socio-economic analytical experience’.

Weekly media wrap - 6 October 2019

The United Nations called on the Australian Government to end the ongoing detention of the Tamil family on Christmas Island. The UN-issued interim measures request that the family be transferred into a community setting or that alternative measures be taken to release them from detention within 30 days. The measure is non-compellable, and the Department of Home Affairs has stated that the family will not be removed from Christmas Island while judicial review proceedings are underway.

The Australian Government continued to refuse to release a report which, according to various news outlets, calls on the government to foster a more positive narrative on refugees and recommends increased funding for settlement services. The government rejected Freedom of Information requests to make the report public, however it is anticipated that the report may be released at the end of the year alongside a government response. 

A woman who formerly taught English to asylum seekers and refugees at the Nauru immigration detention centre sought to sue Broadspectrum, the offshore detention operator, for debilitating ill heath caused by black mould in her accommodation. The case is currently before the Queensland Supreme Court, however it was adjourned due to disagreement over which jurisdiction applied. 

Weekly media wrap - 29 September 2019

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton lodged an application to the High Court to appeal a decision by the Federal Court which found that the latter does have jurisdiction to hear cases for medical transfer of people in offshore detention. If the government wins the appeal it will mean that only the High Court has jurisdiction to hear such cases. Initiating a case in the High Court is significantly more expensive and more complicated than in other courts.      

The Tamil family who are in immigration detention on Christmas Island pending a court hearing on the protection status of their youngest child has been told they will not be returned to the Australian mainland. The court date has not yet been confirmed and they have been told they could wait months. Should they win their court case, their visa status will still be subject to ministerial discretion.

Federal circuit judge Alexander (Sandy) Street’s handling of asylum cases has been called into question. The average success rate for applicants on refugee review cases at the federal circuit court is 7.28%, but of the 842 cases that have come before Judge Street, he found in favour of the applicant only 1.66% of the time. He has been criticised for regularly failing to provide written reasons for his judgements and for the frequency with which he provides same day judgements. The Law Council of Australia has called for a federal independent review body where complaints against judges can be heard.

A major review into refugee resettlement in Australia was completed in February this year, but its report will not be made public until the end of 2019. The review examined improvements to the settlement and integration of people who have come to Australia on humanitarian grounds. Freedom of information requests for the report have been refused on the basis that the report is ‘cabinet in confidence’. 

Weekly media wrap - 25 September 2019

The Federal Court ruled that a family of four Tamil asylum seekers facing deportation has a prima facie case to stay in Australia, and cannot be deported to Sri Lanka until the case goes to a final hearing at a date yet to be determined. The case centres around Australia’s international obligations to provide protection to the family’s two-year-old daughter. The family is currently being held on Christmas Island, where they will remain until the hearing, according to home affairs minister Peter Dutton. 

Documents released to the Senate revealed that Paladin, the security firm contracted to deliver services on Manus Island, has had to pay back $5.7 million to the Australian Government for thousands of breaches of its key performance indicators. Paladin defended these breaches by describing its ‘inability to deploy expat personnel’, but the department of home affairs found this reasoning inadequate to excuse the company’s failures.

The Labor party offered to support a Coalition bill that seeks to amend the Migration Act, provided that a number of conditions be met. The proposed bill, which is currently before the Senate, aims to provide grounds for visa cancellation where a non-citizen has been convicted of a serious crime punishable by two years’ imprisonment, even if a jail term is not imposed. The opposition’s conditions for support – that the bill not apply retrospectively, exempt low-level offences and allow special consideration to be given to New Zealanders – were rejected by immigration minister David Coleman.

An Essential Poll survey of 1093 respondents found that a majority of Australians either support the medevac legislation or believe improved health and welfare services should be provided for people in offshore detention. The survey, though finding majority support for offshore detention at 52%, found that 41% of respondents support medevac legislation as it stands, while 23% believe the legislation does not go far enough to provide humane treatment for asylum seekers offshore.

Weekly media wrap - 16 September 2019

The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee recommended the government’s proposed amendments to the Migration Act 1958 be passed, to prevent asylum seeker boat arrivals making a valid application for any Australian visa. The legislation was introduced to Parliament's lower house in July. The majority committee recommendation described the measures as ‘necessary, reasonable and proportionate’, but dissenting views came from both Labor and Greens senators on the committee.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton described the two children of the Tamil family currently detained on Christmas Island as ‘anchor babies’ being used ‘to leverage a migration outcome’. The two Tamil asylum seekers and their Australian-born daughters will remain on Christmas Island after a federal court hearing to determine whether they would be deported to Sri Lanka was delayed until 18 September.

A Newspoll survey of 1000 Australians found that 64 per cent believe asylum seekers who are considered by the courts not to be refugees should be deported, with 24 per cent saying they should be allowed to settle in Australia. This survey followed publicity last week surrounding the case of the Sri Lankan Tamil family facing deportation.

The Victorian Government announced it will contribute $3 million for crisis response to support asylum seekers on bridging visas who are impacted by federal cuts to the status resolution support services payments, which came into effect in 2018. The $3 million will provide health and support services for 6000 asylum seekers in Victoria. 

A Melbourne couple were charged with causing another person to engage in forced labour and conducting business with forced labour, allegedly keeping an Iranian asylum seeker as a slave for two years to work at their confectionery store. 

In the US, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to enforce new rules that generally forbid asylum applications from migrants who have travelled through another country on their way to the US without being denied asylum in that country. 

Weekly media wrap - 11 September 2019

A Senate enquiry is examining the legislation that would prevent maritime arrivals who were sent to offshore facilities from ever settling in Australia. Figures submitted by the Department of Home Affairs showed 2074 of the 5191 asylum seekers who arrived by boat were never sent to offshore detention centres. It also showed that, of the 3127 people who were transferred to offshore centres, 52 have been granted Australian visas (TPVs or SHEVs). The general counsel to Home Affairs stated that those on temporary visas would be subject to ministerial discretion regarding whether they can remain in Australia after their current visas expire. The Department of Home Affairs confirmed that the legislation would cause 14 families to be separated. 

A Freedom of Information Request revealed that Australian airlines and charter planes have been used to involuntarily transfer more than 8000 people in the immigration detention system between July 2017 and May 2019. These transfers included deportations and relocations between detention facilities. The information was acquired by the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility as they prepare a motion for the Qantas AGM to review its participation in involuntary transfers. 

An internal Ernst & Young audit report was submitted to the Senate inquiry into the performance of Paladin, the company contracted to provide services to the detention facilities on Manus Island. The audit report noted a serious risk from the reliance on self-reporting by the contractor. It found that Paladin had not logged performance data for its security staff and that the company did not know how many times it had failed to provide transport in a timely manner. The report recommended future contracts of this nature should be monitored by way of monthly site visits instead of self-reporting. 

The last cohort of refugees was invited to be transferred from Manus Island to Port Moresby, bringing the offshore operations on Manus Island to a close. They were assured that they would receive accommodation, health, employment and casework assistance in Port Moresby. 

7 News reported on the cases of 50 people who are stateless and have remained in indefinite detention in Australia because their deportation would require their countries of origin to be established. Amongst others, the report outlines the case of one man who has been in detention for 10 years with no prospect of release. The government refused to comment on the cases. 

Weekly media wrap - 2 September 2019

A family of four Tamil asylum seekers were granted a last-minute interim injunction giving them a five-day reprieve from deportation. Their plane, which had departed Melbourne set for Sri Lanka, was forced to land in Darwin. They were subsequently moved to the Christmas Island detention centre. An urgent federal court hearing delayed the deportation, with lawyers acting for the two-year-old daughter arguing that no assessment had been conducted by Australia as to whether she is owed protection obligations. The family has received strong community support, including many supporters who protested at Melbourne Airport this week. 

Weekly allowances and food rations for hundreds of refugees on Manus Island have been stopped amidst the Papua New Guinea Government’s plans to relocate refugees and asylum seekers to Port Morseby. Many refugee families had their allowances and food stopped with no explanation in May and June, and have struggled to provide for their families with no money or employment. 

Meanwhile, a Senate inquiry has heard that asylum seekers and refugees detained in PNG are being blocked from talking to lawyers or doctors, which is preventing medical evacuation approved under new medevac laws. Many of the asylum seekers do not have access to phones, meaning that medical evacuation response teams are unable to contact them.  

New documents released to the Senate reveal that Paladin, the security firm contracted to deliver services on Manus Island, has been fined more than a thousand times by the Home Affairs department for ‘performance failures’. These failures included chronic understaffing, incidents of drink-driving, failures to have staff with appropriate training, and lengthy delays in responding to maintenance issues in the facilities. 

Findings from a recent Deloitte Access Economics report demonstrated that increasing Australia’s refugee intake could boost the economy by billions each year, and sustain tens of thousands of full time jobs. The report found that overall economic benefit far outweighed the cost of refugee assistance and settlement services.