Refugee update
Jun. 18th, 2014 09:31 amOne more posting and I should have caught up with the news. Then back to my usual fairly regular schedule.
This morning, the High Court will rule whether the use of Papua New Guinea as a "regional processing country" is legal under the Constitution. If not, the Manus Island facility will have to be shut down. ETA: Alas, the court found it was legal. (Also today, the Greens will move that the code of conduct for asylum seekers living in the community be withdrawn.)
Babies 'secretly moved' to Christmas Island detention centre: At least five two-month-old babies and their families were moved at 3 am, with no warning and no legal advice. "Jacob Varghese, who is representing 26 Australian-born asylum-seeker babies, said the families were living in fear they would be 'shipped off' to Christmas Island. [...] 'Christmas Island is the worst place to put these people, because it's very remote and a long way from any first-class medical services.'"
Babies born in detention are currently classed as "unauthorised maritime arrivals", but this is being challenged by the Baby Ferouz case, which will be heard by a Federal judge.UNICEF Australia has called for independent monitoring of the treatment of children in detention.
(At the other end of the spectrum, the oldest person in detention is 99.)
Leo Seemanpillai's family have been denied visas to attend his funeral.
Spin costs Immigration Minister Scott Morrison $8m a year. He has axed the Refugee Council's annual funding of $140,000 because taxpayers' money should not be spent on advocacy.
Disappointingly, the Opposition has voted to continue its support for offshore processing, though it has also voted to support improved detention conditions and faster processing. (As usual, as far as I can tell, there was no vote on actually preventing refugees from getting on boats in the first place by bringing them here from Indonesia ourselves.) Meanwhile, the incumbent government plans to force asylum seekers whose rejected applications are under appeal to prepare to return home or face a return to detention. Clearing the large backlog of unprocessed applications will not start until the Senate changeover at the start of July.
With Iraq torn by violence, the Greens have called for a moratorium on the repatriation of Iraqi asylum seekers.
Asylum seekers denied rights, lawyers say: "For good reason, criminal law contains strict procedures and safeguards. You can't just ignore them because an accused person happens to be an asylum seeker." If only because charges and convictions are endangered by such "institutional recklessness".
Border protection deny running 'prison ship' for asylum seekers. (Was your first thought, "Which probably means they are?")
Survivors of the 2010 sinking of an asylum boat off Christmas island have brought a lawsuit against the government for its alleged failure to provide adequate surveillance and seaworthy rescue vessels, breaching its duty of care.
Columnist Richard Ackland compares and contrasts Australia's and Europe's handling of asylum seekers. Michael West examines the billions in profits made by the companies running detention centres.
On a personal note, I've been reading The Old Testament: A Very Short Introduction, which repeatedly mentions the requirement of rulers to protect vulnerable members of the community, with immigrants consistently listed amongst the groups specifically requiring protection (Exodus 23:9, Leviticus 19:34). It's to their credit that Australia's churches (probably with Matthew 25 in mind) have consistently stood up to the government on behalf of asylum seekers.
This morning, the High Court will rule whether the use of Papua New Guinea as a "regional processing country" is legal under the Constitution. If not, the Manus Island facility will have to be shut down. ETA: Alas, the court found it was legal. (Also today, the Greens will move that the code of conduct for asylum seekers living in the community be withdrawn.)
Babies 'secretly moved' to Christmas Island detention centre: At least five two-month-old babies and their families were moved at 3 am, with no warning and no legal advice. "Jacob Varghese, who is representing 26 Australian-born asylum-seeker babies, said the families were living in fear they would be 'shipped off' to Christmas Island. [...] 'Christmas Island is the worst place to put these people, because it's very remote and a long way from any first-class medical services.'"
Babies born in detention are currently classed as "unauthorised maritime arrivals", but this is being challenged by the Baby Ferouz case, which will be heard by a Federal judge.UNICEF Australia has called for independent monitoring of the treatment of children in detention.
(At the other end of the spectrum, the oldest person in detention is 99.)
Leo Seemanpillai's family have been denied visas to attend his funeral.
Spin costs Immigration Minister Scott Morrison $8m a year. He has axed the Refugee Council's annual funding of $140,000 because taxpayers' money should not be spent on advocacy.
Disappointingly, the Opposition has voted to continue its support for offshore processing, though it has also voted to support improved detention conditions and faster processing. (As usual, as far as I can tell, there was no vote on actually preventing refugees from getting on boats in the first place by bringing them here from Indonesia ourselves.) Meanwhile, the incumbent government plans to force asylum seekers whose rejected applications are under appeal to prepare to return home or face a return to detention. Clearing the large backlog of unprocessed applications will not start until the Senate changeover at the start of July.
With Iraq torn by violence, the Greens have called for a moratorium on the repatriation of Iraqi asylum seekers.
Asylum seekers denied rights, lawyers say: "For good reason, criminal law contains strict procedures and safeguards. You can't just ignore them because an accused person happens to be an asylum seeker." If only because charges and convictions are endangered by such "institutional recklessness".
Border protection deny running 'prison ship' for asylum seekers. (Was your first thought, "Which probably means they are?")
Survivors of the 2010 sinking of an asylum boat off Christmas island have brought a lawsuit against the government for its alleged failure to provide adequate surveillance and seaworthy rescue vessels, breaching its duty of care.
Columnist Richard Ackland compares and contrasts Australia's and Europe's handling of asylum seekers. Michael West examines the billions in profits made by the companies running detention centres.
On a personal note, I've been reading The Old Testament: A Very Short Introduction, which repeatedly mentions the requirement of rulers to protect vulnerable members of the community, with immigrants consistently listed amongst the groups specifically requiring protection (Exodus 23:9, Leviticus 19:34). It's to their credit that Australia's churches (probably with Matthew 25 in mind) have consistently stood up to the government on behalf of asylum seekers.