Monthly Wrap August 2025

In the media

Detention

The Saturday Paper highlighted cases in the latest Commonwealth Ombudsman’s report into immigration detention, that showed a pattern of inaction on matters of concern within detention centres. The full report can be accessed here. The Australian reported a surge in drug circulation in immigration detention centres during the period when detention management was transitioning from Serco to the new contractor, Secure Journeys.

Nauru

Amid an outbreak of dengue fever in Nauru, advocates urged the Australian government to ensure that the people they sent there are provided with mosquito nets and repellent.

Palestinians

UNRWA reported that Israel’s blockade on food aid into Gaza impacted their medical teams who faced persistent hunger. A Palestinian family was granted residence after the Immigration Minister saw their story on the ABC series The Piano.  

Afghanistan

People who fled Afghanistan are approaching almost two years without any response to their Australian protection visa applications. Radio National’s Late Night Live explored the situation of Afghan refugees who are subject to America’s removal policies. Iran has forcibly returned over 1 million Afghans who sought safe haven there. In the UK it was revealed that thousands of Afghan people were secretly resettled there after a major government data breach in 2022 put their lives at risk in Afghanistan.

Community

A Tasmanian legal service reported a notable increase in the number of people who fear persecution in their countries of origin on the basis of their sexuality. On the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, survivors living in Australia recalled the horrors they suffered.

International

The European Court of Justice ruled that states can only declare countries 'safe' for return where the whole population is generally safe and evidence to back up the declaration must be cited. The UNHCR published its strategy on how to protect refugees and asylum seekers from misinformation, disinformation and hate speech. Mali passed legislation to guarantee protections for stateless people living there. The UNHCR called for more assistance to the almost 1.3 million Sudanese people who are returning home after having fled the conflict there. The UK and France agreed an arrangement that would see one refugee brought into the UK for every undocumented person who is intercepted at sea and returned to France.

In policy

The IOM and UNHCR have partnered on an Australian funded Train to Hire pilot program that will enable refugees in the Asia-Pacific region to be brought to Australia for training and work. The UNSW Kaldor Centre published a recording of a panel discussion on the limits in administrative detention since the NZYQ High Court ruling.

In research

Professor Jane McAdam published an analysis of the ICJ’s opinion with respect to the protection obligations owed to people whose lives are threatened by climate change.

New releases and events

Book Launch: Statelessness in Asia, an in-person event at the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness on 19 August 2025.

Building bridges: advancing refugee protection in a divided world, a conference by the UNSW Kaldor Centre, on 23 October 2025.