In the media
Nauru corruption concerns
Over November a number of people and agencies alleged successive Australian offshore processing deals with Nauru had been corrupted. A senior Home Affairs official who oversaw the process to award the 2019 and 2021 contracts said he had evidence of significant corruption. A former army soldier said that bikie gangs had infiltrated the security service operating under the contract. A Senator read out an Austrac report that raised concerns of corruption and money laundering by the current President of Nauru around the time that deals with Australia were actioned. The Home Affairs Minister’s said that some aspects of the secret Nauru deal would become public ‘over time.’ At the same time the Australian government blocked publication of an interview transcript in which the Nauruan President appears to suggest that his government could deport people in the so-called NZYQ cohort to their countries of origin.
International
2025 became the deadliest year for Rohingya people attempting to find safe haven by boat. In November another boat sank with at least 21 people confirmed dead. The American government announced the cancellation of temporary protection status to nationals of South Sudan, Venezuela, Syria and other countries. It has also reduced the annual refugee intake quota to the lowest level on record and terminated the Afghan resettlement program after a National Guard officer was killed by an Afghan man. Germany announced the commencement of a repatriation program for Syrian refugees. This coincides with the first decline in the number of people displaced globally in the last ten years, primarily due to Syrians returning home. As the UK government announced major reforms to its asylum policies, The Guardian highlighted the limbo of asylum seekers by way of the case of a man who took 17 years to get a residency visa.
In policy
The government defended its policy of buying and restoring fishing boats to give to people who are intercepted in Australian waters and ordered to return to their departure point. During November Australia issued it’s one millionth humanitarian visa since the end of World War II. The new Refugee Student Settlement Pathway program took effect with the arrival of the first visa recipients. The UNSW Kaldor Centre published its submission to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ahead of their December visit to Australia.
In research
UNSW research found that people in Australia on humanitarian visas were 51% less likely to be employed five years post- arrival than other new migrants. The Scanlon Foundation Research Institute published the 2025 report of the Refugees Experiences in Australia Study. The IOM’s International Migration published a study into the prevalence of state organised forced migration as an intentional geopolitical strategy.