Weekly media wrap - 19 September 2016

In a speech to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute on Thursday, Australian immigration minister Peter Dutton stated that Australia will continue to process asylum seekers on Nauru for ‘decades’. In an interview with the al-Jazeera network, he appeared to leave open the possibility of refugees being resettled in New Zealand from Nauru, but clarified that this would be an arrangement between the governments of Nauru and New Zealand.

Gillian Triggs, President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, appealed to Malcolm Turnbull to bring asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island to Australia. The AHRC will release a report outlining alternatives to Australia’s current asylum-seeker policy on Wednesday.

Australia’s offshore detention policies were also criticised by Chitralekha Massey, the new Pacific representative of the United Nations Human Rights Office. In an interview with Guardian Australia, Massey urged Australia to adopt a ‘non-custodial’ approach to asylum seeker processing. Despite this and other criticisms, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull maintained that Australia’s border protection policies are ‘the best in the world’.

A report from Unicef and Save the Children found that Australia’s current asylum seeker policy has cost $9.6 billion over the last four years. $3.6 billion has been spent on offshore processing and $5.6 billion on onshore mandatory detention.

Weekly media wrap - 12 September 2016

The Government of Nauru denied Independent parliamentarian Andrew Wilkie a visa to visit the island nation. This follows the recent refusal of entry visas for three Danish MPs and for Senator Hanson-Young earlier in 2016. The Australian Government has stated that the issuing of visas is a matter for Nauruan Government. 

Following a recent visit to Manus Island, the Human Rights Law Centre and Getup launched a new campaign to call for the Australian Government to bring asylum seekers from Manus Island to Australia. The campaign has published statements of several men held in detention on Manus Island, each of whom were interviewed during this recent visit.

In a joint statement, six leading humanitarian organisations criticised the Australian Government for the delays in resettling 12,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees, and advocated for the resettlement of this intake to be completed by March 2017. The Australian Government advised that 3532 people have been resettled and a further 3146 visas have been issued.

UNICEF reported that around 11 million children around the world are refugees and asylum seekers living outside their country of origin, and that this number has doubled in the 10 years from 2005 to 2015. Further, the number of unaccompanied minors applying for asylum tripled from 2014 to 2015.

Weekly media wrap - 5 September 2016

Wilson Security announced that it will end its work in Australia’s offshore detention centres at the end of its contract. Wilson’s decision leaves the government without a security firm for the centres.

The government of Nauru refused entry visas to three of the six Danish MPs who arrived in Australia on Saturday for a long-planned trip to examine Australia’s detention policy, leading the entire party to cancel their trip.  Johanne Schmidt-Nielson, one of the MPs denied entry, claimed that the government of Nauru told the Danish embassy that the party was unable to visit because of critical statements they had made about the offshore policy.

Government adviser Paris Aristotle recommended ending offshore detention in order to prevent further self-harm by detainees. He advocated the resettlement of refugees in countries including Australia as part of a ‘regional system based on established human rights principles’. Aristotle previously sat on the 2012 Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers, which recommended that the Gillard Government reopen offshore detention centres.

Jasmine Pilbrow, a 22 year old Melbourne woman, was found guilty of interfering with a crew member on an aircraft. In February 2015, Pilbrow refused to take her seat on a flight from Melbourne to Darwin, where a Tamil asylum seeker was expected to be deported back to Sri Lanka.

The Victorian State Government announced funding for 3000 people on temporary protection visas to study in areas lacking skilled workers, including hospitality and aged care. Victoria is currently the only state where asylum seekers can access TAFE.

Weekly media wrap - 29 August 2016

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young was denied a visa to visit Nauru, one week after Fairfax Media’s application for a visa to visit the country was also refused. Meanwhile, six members of the Danish Parliament’s Immigration and Integration Affairs Committee have been granted permission to visit Nauru. One of the MPs said that the group is visiting Nauru to “ask some of the questions that the Australian Government is preventing journalists from asking.”

Opposition leader Bill Shorten indicated that Labor is open to resettling refugees from Australia’s offshore detention centres in New Zealand. However, the Coalition government has said that refugees will not be settled in New Zealand because this could create “incentives for people smugglers to get back into business”.

Thousands of protestors took part in seven separate “Close the camps, Bring them here” rallies across Australia to demand the closure of the offshore processing centres on Nauru, and the resettlement of refugees on Manus Island and Nauru in Australia.

An analysis by the Parliamentary Library showed that the offshore processing centre on Manus Island has cost Australia around $2 billion since it reopened four years ago. Immigration minister Peter Dutton announced last week that the centre would eventually close; however, this week Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court heard arguments in a case seeking orders that the centre be closed within 48 hours and that all refugees and asylum seekers be transferred to Australia. A full hearing date for the case is yet to be set.

The Scanlon Foundation in conjunction with Monash University released the 2016 Australians Today report into the state of multiculturalism in Australia. The report found that more than three in four South Sudanese migrants, most of whom arrived as humanitarian refugees, have experienced some form of discrimination. 

Weekly media wrap - 22 August 2016

After a meeting of officials, the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments announced that the Manus Island detention centre will be closed 'as quickly as possible'. Australian immigration minister Peter Dutton reiterated that the asylum seekers currently held there would not be resettled in Australia. The minister stated that third countries for resettlement were being discussed and that the Australian government would provide PNG with extra resources to cope with the transition.

The Nauruan government stated that most claims made in the 'Nauru files' – more than 2000 leaked incident reports from Australia’s offshore detention centre on Nauru – were ‘fabricated’. In two tweets, the government claimed that left wing media and Greens politicians in Australia were using refugees as ‘pawns’ to further their political agendas.

Meanwhile, The Guardian revealed official correspondence showing that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and immigration minister Peter Dutton were extensively briefed on the harmful impacts of prolonged detention on children, including most recently in May 2016.

Over 1800 academics backed a policy paper calling for the end of ‘harmful policies of offshore processing, boat turnbacks and the mandatory detention of people seeking asylum’. The paper recommended to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that he hold a summit to consider ways to deal with the 2000 asylum seekers currently held on Nauru and Manus Island. 

Weekly media wrap - 15 August 2016

The Guardian Australia published the ‘Nauru files’ – more than 2,000 leaked incident reports detailing occurrences of violence, including the self harm and sexual abuse of children, at Australia’s offshore immigration detention centre on Nauru. Following the release, Australian human rights groups urged that the allegations contained in the reports be investigated as part of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse, and the UNHCR called for all refugees and asylum seekers to be immediately moved from the island. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton responded to the allegations by questioning the integrity of refugees and asylum seekers in offshore facilities, and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull opposed calls for a royal commission.

Allegations of abuse were also made by an asylum seeker held at the Manus Island immigration detention centre in Papua New Guinea, strengthening calls for an independent inquiry into human rights abuses at offshore facilities. The allegations come as PNG’s Supreme Court set August 22nd as the date it will decide whether Australia is legally responsible for asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island.

The head of Operation Sovereign Borders Major General Andrew Bottrell said keeping details of asylum seeker boat turnbacks secret from the Australian public was essential for national security. The comments were made during a landmark freedom of information case initiated by Guardian Australia journalist Paul Farrell, seeking access to government orders to executive turnback operations in 2013 and early 2014.

The Australian Government contracted a second refugee resettlement agency to provide services to the sole refugee in Cambodia, resettled from Nauru as part of the Cambodia deal. The ABC reported that the Department of Immigration and Border Protection declined to comment on the reasons for the new arrangement.

Weekly media wrap - 9 August 2016

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International released a report detailing the conditions in Australia’s offshore immigration detention centre on Nauru. Anna Neistat, Senior Director for Research at Amnesty International, called the situation 'cruel in the extreme'.

On Thursday, Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court ordered the PNG and Australian Governments to present a resettlement plan for the 900 asylum seekers on Manus Island. The Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection responded by stating that the Australian government ‘is not a party to the proceedings’.

A medical transfer flight to Port Moresby for a refugee on Nauru with a growing lump in her breast was cancelled. She was due to undergo a biopsy. No reason was given for the flight cancellation.

The embassy of Pakistan in Australia agreed to repatriate the body of Kamil Hussain, the asylum seeker who drowned at a swimming area on Manus Island. Papua New Guinea’s government had previously maintained that Hussain’s body would be buried on Manus, but relented in a meeting on Friday. 

Weekly media wrap - 1 August 2016

David Manne, Executive Director of Refugee Legal, called for the terms of reference for the recently announced Royal Commission into children in detention to be expanded to include “all children deprived of their liberty by the Australian Government”.  

Until last year, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection contracted Save the Children to provide schooling to asylum seekers on Nauru. Since the end of the contract, attendance has dropped from around 90% to below 15%. 

A court case challenging the legality of the refugee resettlement program in PNG has been adjourned until 2 August as government lawyers consider statements made by refugees in court. 

In Germany, a 27-year-old Syrian man whose asylum claim had been rejected detonated a bomb after being turned away from a music festival, injuring 15 people. Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated her Government’s policy to providing shelter to those who need it. German leaders are fearful that the radical right will use the fourth violent attack in a week to spearhead a backlash among voters.  

Weekly media wrap - 25 July 2016

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton filmed a video informing people smugglers that the re-elected Turnbull government’s boat policy will not change. The Operation Sovereign Borders Joint Agency Taskforce will distribute the video through social media and mainstream media in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran.

Documents prepared by the immigration department for John Brayley, the Australian Border Force’s new Surgeon General and Chief Medical Officer, showed that the department took measures to prevent offshore detainees being transferred to Australia for medical treatment due to their ‘propensity’ to take legal action to stay in the country.

The European Union’s leadership proposed a new EU-wide asylum rule. The new rule includes limiting some asylum seekers to a time period of one week to lodge appeals against adverse decisions, and automatically rejecting claims where the claimants refuse to give fingerprints or to move between countries in Europe. 

Weekly media wrap - 18 July 2016

Nauru Justice Minister David Adeang criticised the Australian and New Zealand media over coverage of asylum seekers and offshore processing on the island, accusing media outlets of attempting to influence domestic politics. This criticism came following Nauru’s national elections, which re-elected President Baron Waqa’s government. 

Two asylum seekers, who have been in Port Moresby for medical treatment, were threatened at gunpoint in a motel that houses refugees and asylum seekers. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection confirmed the incident and stated that the two asylum seekers would return to the Manus Island detention facilities following completion of treatment. 

The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, has urged the re-elected Coalition government to commit to the removal of children from offshore detention in Nauru by the end of 2016 calendar year. UNICEF Australia’s Nicole Breeze stated that while Nauru has made improvements to ensuring children’s safety and welfare, the island nation was not suitable for resettlement of refugee children. 

Meanwhile, in response to the migration crisis, European officials have proposed the creation of a new ‘semi-standardised’ system to provide greater consistency in the treatment of asylum seekers across Europe, to discourage asylum seekers passing through multiple countries before settling and to reduce incentives for irregular migration. The proposal has been met with criticism from refugee advocates, such as Amnesty International, who are concerned that it would lead to fewer refugees being given sanctuary in Europe. 

The numbers of people seeking asylum in Germany has fallen to around 220,000 in early 2016 in comparison to approximately 500,000 in late 2015. Germany’s Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière indicated that the European Union’s deal with Turkey to manage the flow of refugees in Europe had already made an impact. 

Weekly media wrap - 11 July 2016

ABC’s 7.30 reported that a Wilson Security guard was paid over $15,000 not to discuss the alleged rape of a local Manus Island worker by three security guards in July 2015. Papua New Guinea police claimed that the removal of the guards from the country and the detention centre’s lack of cooperation with the police hampered their attempted investigation of the assault.

Two Afghan refugees launched Federal Court action against immigration minister Peter Dutton over delays in the processing of their citizenship applications. The men passed the citizenship test in 2014 and 2015 respectively and have not yet progressed to receiving a citizenship ceremony, despite the fact that the immigration department service standard for processing citizenship applications is 80 days. 

Weekly media wrap - 4 July 2016

The result of the Australian federal election on 2 July hangs in the balance, with the results in six seats unlikely to be determined until Tuesday. The Greens have called for an end to offshore processing in exchange for their support in the case of a hung parliament. However, Greens leader Richard Di Natale appeared to leave the door open to negotiating with the major parties on this issue during a media conference later in the week.

The ABC reported allegations of widespread corruption in the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Former immigration official Joseph Petyanszki claimed crime syndicates and people smugglers are involved in widespread rorting of Australia's work and student visa programs.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has called on Australia to increase its refugee intake in the face of increasing numbers of displaced people worldwide. 

Weekly media wrap - 27 June 2016

The Australian government returned a boat carrying 21 asylum seekers to Vietnam. This brings to 28 the total number of boats carrying asylum seekers that have been turned back in the last three years.

In an interview with A Current Affair, Nauru’s Justice Minister David Adeang said refugees were ‘certainly living better’ than Nauruans and that there ‘was not much to complain about’. A Current Affair said the Australian government had no role in the program gaining access to Nauru and that the program gave no undertakings to deliver favourable coverage.

In an interview with The Guardian, psychologist Paul Stevenson stated that he has ‘never seen more atrocity than … in the incarcerated situations of Manus Island and Nauru’.  Stevenson was fired by the immigration department due to secrecy provisions within the Australian Border Force Act 2015 (Cth).

On World Refugee Day, 20 June 2016, UNHCR released its annual global trends report. The report showed an all-time high of 65 million displaced persons globally. Of these, 21.3 million are refugees and 3.2 million are asylum seekers.

Weekly media wrap - 21 June 2016

A boat carrying 44 Sri Lankan asylum seekers remains marooned off the coast of Indonesia. The boat has now been stranded for over a week. The asylum seekers on board have indicated that they intend to continue their journey to Australia if they are escorted to international waters by the Indonesian navy.

The Channel Nine tabloid television program A Current Affair announced that it had gained exclusive access to the regional processing centre on Nauru. The program is set to air in Australia on 20 June, and access to the broadcast can be found here. Detainees expressed concern that the crew may have filmed them without permission, while Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young described the visit as a "cynical political move on the eve of the election".

Advocates have called for an asylum seeker on Manus Island who is suffering from various psychological disorders and was allegedly sexually assaulted to be brought to Australia for treatment. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection said that it was aware of the case and its contracted healthcare provider was providing appropriate care.

The election campaign continues. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten announced that a Labor Government would allow journalists to visit and report on offshore immigration detention centres. Citing "operational discipline", the Coalition Government said in response that visas for journalists were a matter for Nauru.

If the major parties' asylum policies matter to you this election, take a look at Asylum Insight's election policies explainer for a clear and concise explanation of where each party stands.

Weekly media wrap - 14 June 2016

A boat bound for Australia carrying 35 Sri Lankan asylum seekers is being held off the coast of Indonesia. Indonesian immigration spokesperson Heru Santos Ananta Yudha stated that while their status was being checked and they were unable to go onshore, authorites were providing the passengers with food and water.

Documents concerning health and safety within detention centres were released to the Australian Lawyers’ Alliance. The documents showed that of 1092 injuries and assaults reported to Comcare by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and its contractors over a two-year period, 850 were not investigated. Comcare is required to investigate “notifiable incidents” which a Comcare spokesman defined as ‘deaths, serious injury or dangerous incidents’.

The European Court of Justice ruled that EU countries cannot imprison undocumented refugees and migrants for entering their country. The ruling came in the case of Selina Affum, a Ghanian refugee arrested in France whilst travelling on a bus with false travel documents.

Weekly media wrap - 6 June 2016

Immigration minister Peter Dutton said the government was not negotiating with Canadian officials, following media claims that a plan to resettle some refugees detained in Papua New Guinea and Nauru in Canada was being considered. Mr Dutton said talks had been held with many third countries in the hope of reaching an agreement quickly.

The Nauruan government decriminalised suicide and homosexuality to comply with international treaty obligations, following criticism from the United Nations and human rights groups. An Iranian asylum seeker was charged and sentenced for attempting suicide in Nauru last month.

On Manus Island, media reported that conflict had emerged between residents and newly released asylum seekers and refugees, with both locals and those newly arrived concerned for their safety.

A worker at Yonga Hill detention facility in Western Australia was suspended pending an investigation into claims he assaulted an asylum seeker. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection did not deny the claims, but would not reveal the number of other detention incidents referred to police in Australia.

The bodies of more than 100 asylum seekers washed up on the coast of Libya, likely from a boat that capsized on Wednesday. Hundreds more are believed to be missing from a separate capsizing off Crete. Italian authorities said 13,000 people were saved in the Mediterranean Sea in one week. Medecins San Frontieres reported that many of those who had reached Italy from Libya said smugglers had beaten or raped them. Warmer weather and the blocking of safer routes have been cited for the increase in crossing attempts and increase in tragedies.

Elsewhere in Europe, Dutch authorities reported an increase in people smuggler arrests, and the mayor of revealed plans to build an asylum seeker camp in the French capital. In Greece, two separate riots erupted between asylum seekers at detention camps on the islands of Lesbos and Samos.

Weekly media wrap - 30 May 2016

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce linked the ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia in 2011 with increased asylum seeker boat arrivals. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said ‘there is no link between the Indonesian Government and people smuggling, while praising the leadership of Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

On the election trail, Labor leader Bill Shorten announced that one of his first acts if elected Prime Minister would be to work with UNHCR to identify resettlement countries for the 2000 refugees in Nauru and Manus Island.

In Vietnam, a court has jailed four of 46 asylum seekers intercepted by the Australian government off the West Australian coast last year. A spokesman for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection stated that they were confident that Vietnam was upholding its agreement not to prosecute any of the returned asylum seekers on the grounds of illegal departure. A Human Rights Watch spokesperson said that Vietnam has ‘blatantly broken its promise to the Australian government not to prosecute boat returnees.’

In Cambodia, only one of five refugees transferred from Nauru remains in the country. In 2014, Cambodia agreed to take refugees in Nauru who had tried to reach Australia by boat in exchange for $40m dollars in aid. A Cambodian team will fly to Nauru next month to interview two more refugees who have volunteered for resettlement.

Europe’s largest makeshift refugee camp at Idomeni was shut down leaving over 4000 asylum seekers unaccounted for and 3000 to be transferred to new permanent refugee camps. Volunteers allowed in the new camps reported that they lack in basic amenities and unsafe to live in – an accusation refuted by Giorgos Kyritis, Greece’s migration spokesman, who stated there is ‘room to improve them’ but there is ‘water and electricity everywhere’.

Two boats carrying refugees capsized off the coast of Libya on Thursday and more than 4000 refugees were rescued in the course of 22 rescue missions by the Italian coastguard. 

Weekly media wrap - 23 May 2016

Immigration minister Peter Dutton said Australia faced the prospect of “illiterate and innumerate” refugees if it significantly increased its humanitarian intake. Mr. Dutton also said unemployment would rise in response to the Greens’ proposal to increase Australia’s intake to 50,000. The Labor Party has pledged to increase the intake from 13,750 to 27,000.

Mr Dutton’s comments were met with widespread criticism. High profile Today co-host Karl Stefanovic called on Mr Dutton to apologise, before espousing the historic contribution of previous waves of refugees to Australian society. Former Immigration Minister Chris Bowen also demanded an apology, however Prime Minister Turnbull and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop have defended Mr. Dutton and the Coalition’s record.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale outlined the Greens policy priorities under a post-election scenario where the Labor Party is forced to enter a power sharing arrangement to form government. “More decent and compassionate treatment of those people legitimately seeking asylum” is a key focus for the Greens. Election analysis suggests that increased focus on immigration is a potential weakness for the Labor party – ceding voters to the Greens in the inner city and the Coalition elsewhere.

Fairfax reported that Department of Immigration and Border Protection officials are under investigation for alleged assisting drug and tobacco smugglers with illegal importation. The Department has said they are ‘working actively with law enforcement partners to investigate allegations of serious criminality by its officers at the border’.

The Greek asylum service found that returning an asylum seeker to Turkey under the EU-Turkey deal was inconsistent with the Refugee Convention. Under the deal, asylum seekers who arrive by boat to Greece are returned to Turkey. The deal is controversial as Turkey has not lifted the geographical limits to the Convention and NGOs have reported that Turkey has returned Syrians in breach of the principle of non-refoulement.

At least 10,000 unaccompanied children are unaccounted for by European migration authorities according to a report published by the European Commission. The report suggests that increased irregular migrant flows raises the risk of children being sold in to sex slavery and otherwise exploited. 

Weekly media wrap - 16 May 2016

Papua New Guinea’s immigration department announced that ‘no asylum seeker or refugee is in detention’, as they are able to leave the Manus Island centre during the day. They must then return to camp in the evening. Lawyers representing the Manus Island detainees asked the Supreme Court to hasten their compensation claims for illegal detention. They are requesting $462.75 for each day they were held illegally.

On Nauru, a 26 year-old Bangladeshi refugee died after suffering a series of heart attacks. There are reports from other asylum seekers that he had consumed a large number of pills before he admitted himself to hospital on Friday with chest pains, but these reports could not be confirmed. More than 100 refugees who have been in Nauru for three years signed a letter to the Australian government asking to be allowed to board boats to seek asylum in new countries.

Naima Ahmed, a 22 year-old Somali refugee, was evacuated from Nauru to the Royal Brisbane Hospital and placed on life support, following an emergency caesarean section performed in Nauru. She and her baby were airlifted on separate planes. Immigration minister Peter Dutton reiterated that the woman had received appropriate care in Nauru and that $11 million had been spent on upgrading the facilities there.

Peter Dutton will not appeal the federal court ruling that he breached his duty of care to asylum seeker, Abyan, who was flown to Papua New Guinea after she sought an abortion as a result of being raped in detention in Nauru.  Dutton is now legally required to fly Abyan to a country with the necessary medical expertise and equipment to safely perform an abortion.

Frontex, the EU’s border agency reported that there was a 90 per cent drop in the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Greece last month, attributing this to the EU agreement with Turkey to send back migrants arriving in Greece by boat. The Norwegian Refugee Council however, claimed that the refugees are beginning to choose a more dangerous route, Northern Africa to Italy, to seek European protection. They cited the announcement by Italian coastguards that 801 migrants were rescued from boats off the coast of Western Sicily, many of them from Syria, as evidence.

Weekly media wrap - 9 May 2016

On Nauru, a second incident of self-immolation occurred. The young Somali refugee woman remains in a critical condition and is being treated in a Nauru hospital. In the wake of the incident, Minister Dutton criticised both the media and advocacy groups for encouraging asylum seekers and refugees to ‘behave in a certain way’ and for raising hope and expectation that through resistance, they may be able to come to Australia. 

A PNG representative appeared before the United Nations Human Rights Council through the Universal Periodic Review process, stating that the government accepts the recent court decision and is working to make arrangements for the men held within the detention facility. Australian officials met with Papua New Guinea (PNG) counterparts to put in place arrangements to comply with the Supreme Court ruling.  

In Australia, an application was lodged in the high court for over 750 refugees and asylum seekers currently held in offshore detention. The case will seek an urgent injunction to prevent this group being sent to Nauru following the expected closure of the Manus Island detention centre.                  

Elsewhere in the courts, the Federal Court of Australia found that the Minister for Immigration, Peter Dutton, exposed an asylum seeker to serious medical and legal risk by flying the woman from Nauru to PNG to terminate her pregnancy, despite this procedure being illegal in PNG. The asylum seeker became pregnant after being raped while in detention. The Federal Court also found that Australia owed a duty of care to the asylum seeker, a finding that may have broad ramifications for offshore detention.

The Australian Government released a statement offering regret for the use of unsubstantiated allegations that led to the sacking of ten Save the Children staff working on Nauru. It was alleged that the workers were coaching people held in detention to self-harm. The Australian Government will provide compensation to Save the Children. However Scott Morrison, then immigration minister, has indicated he would not make an apology to the organisation for the incident. 

A boat carrying 12 asylum seekers was intercepted off the shores of Australia’s Cocos Islands. The group of asylum seekers were flown to Colombo, Sri Lanka and have been arrested and taken into police custody in Colombo. The Australian Government has not made any comment on this incident, identifying it as an operational matter.  

As part of 2016-17 federal budget announcements, Minister Dutton announced to parliament that 17 onshore detention facilities will be closed.