Weekly media wrap - 7 February 2017

After committing to honour the refugee resettlement deal made between the Obama administration and the Australian government, US President Donald Trump tweeted after speaking with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that the deal was ‘dumb’. Since the phone call, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop claimed that the two countries were working through details and that the deal would go ahead, and White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the deal would be honoured ‘in some way’. However, following this, US immigration officials postponed interviews with asylum seekers on Nauru, suggesting a block on progress with the deal.

In the light of the US-Australia refugee deal, President Trump’s immigration ban and continuing medical emergencies on Manus Island and Nauru, several hundred people protested outside Parliament House in Canberra on Saturday, demanding that asylum seekers held on Manus Island and Nauru be brought to Australia.

On Friday, a pregnant 37-year-old Kuwaiti asylum seeker known as Dee, who appears to be suffering from pre-eclampsia, was airlifted to Australia from Nauru for the delivery of her baby. The move was made after a month of heavy lobbying of the Australian government by doctors. The government initially resisted, saying that there were ‘comprehensive’ medical services on the island.

Loghman Sawari, an Iranian asylum seeker who fled to Fiji after being held on Manus Island for three years, was deported back to Papua New Guinea 10 days later by the Fijian government. Fiji’s attorney-general stated that Sawari was deported because he had entered Fiji on a fraudulent passport and because the UNHCR had advised Fiji that Sawari was not deemed a refugee under their mandate. However, a statement released by the UNHCR expressed ‘regrets that interventions to prevent Mr Sawari’s forced return were not successful’.  

Weekly media wrap - 31 January 2017

US President Donald Trump committed to honour the US-Australia deal to resettle refugees currently held on Manus Island and Nauru in the United States.  The commitment came just days after Trump signed an executive order suspending all refugee admissions into the US for 120 days, barring Syrian refugees indefinitely, and banning travel to the US for 90 days from seven majority Muslim countries – Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.

In the days between Trump signing the order and committing to honour the US-Australia deal, an Iranian refugee being held on Nauru attempted suicide.  The teenager, who has been held on Nauru since 2013, attempted to hang himself before being arrested and taken to jail.

Ahwazi Arab Loghman Sawari, an Iranian refugee who spent more than three years on Manus Island, fled to Fiji and is seeking asylum there.  Sawari stated: ‘The people [in Fiji] have made me feel safe. I was never, not for one day, safe in PNG.’

Weekly media wrap - 24 January 2017

The Australian National Audit Office published a report showing that the Department of Immigration and Border Protection spent $2.2 billion without appropriate authorisations. The department’s deputy secretary Jenet Connell acknowledged the lack of documentary evidence showing approvals, but claimed that the majority of payments were ‘fixed monthly contractual fees which are dependent on the number of residents in the [regional processing centres]’.  

A Senate committee is set to investigate the death of Sudanese refugee Faysal Ishak Ahmed. Ahmed died in Brisbane Hospital on Christmas Eve after collapsing at the Manus Island processing centre. The immigration department has stated that it is unaware of any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

The United Nations called for an investigation into the arrest and beating of two Iranian asylum seekers on Manus Island on New Year’s Eve. Kedar Poudyal, an advisor at the UN Human Rights Office in Port Moresby, expressed the need for an investigation. However, Manus Province police commander David Yapu has said previously that no such investigation will be conducted due to the likelihood that the men were injured while resisting arrest. 

Weekly media wrap - 16 January 2017

The US-Australia deal to settle refugees held on Manus Island and Nauru appears to be under threat. Texan Congressman Brian Babin said that President-elect Donald Trump would do ‘everything in his power’ to prevent the deal from going ahead. Immigration minister Peter Dutton has refused to comment; however, a spokesman for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull expressed confidence that the deal would proceed. Labor’s immigration spokesman Shayne Newman voiced ongoing support for the deal, but urged the government to reveal more information about the progress of negotiations.

A global report released this week by human rights advocacy organisation Human Rights Watch described Australia’s asylum seeker policies as ‘draconian’.  A spokesperson for the organisation said that ‘[i]f Australia wants to be a global human rights leader, then it should take immediate steps to end these unlawful policies.’ 

Weekly media wrap - 10 January 2017

On New Year’s Eve, two Iranian asylum seekers were allegedly beaten by PNG police on Manus Island. The men claim that they were on their way into town when they were stopped by PNG immigration officers and then beaten by up to 10 police officers. Immigration minister Peter Dutton said that he was ‘wait[ing] to see the full facts of [the] case before [he made] any comment’.

Republican congressman Brian Babin stated that Donald Trump will block the Australia-US deal that would see asylum seekers from Manus Island and Nauru resettled in the US. About 100 people on Nauru have already been processed for resettlement. A spokesman for Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that he remained confident that the deal would go ahead. 

Weekly media wrap - 2 January 2017

More details emerged following the death of Sudanese refugee Faysal Ishak Ahmed in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital on 23 December. The Guardian reported that both Ahmed and a group of fellow asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island had written letters to International Health and Medical Services – the company contracted to provide health services for Australia’s detention centres – with concerns for Mr Ahmed’s faltering health up to two months before his death. Health professionals urged an independent review of Australia's medical operations on Manus Island and Nauru in response, while Manus Island MP Ronnie Knight said Australia must build and staff a hospital on the island to prevent further deaths.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said that Mr Ahmed’s family have yet to be contacted by Australian Government representatives about his death, but have requested via refugee advocates that Mr Ahmed’s body be returned to Sudan.

The International Organisation for Migration reported that more than 7000 migrants and refugees died, or remain missing, on the world's migratory routes in 2016. These numbers far exceed those of 2014 and 2015, and are the highest annual number recorded by the IOM.

Weekly media wrap - 27 December 2016

On Saturday, 24-year-old Sudanese refugee Faysal Ishak Ahmed died in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. Ahmed suffered a collapse in the Manus Island detention centre, which resulted in him being airlifted to Australia for urgent treatment. Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul stated that Ahmed had made numerous complaints to staff because of a lack of treatment.

In response to Ahmed’s death, asylum seekers on Manus Island rioted, taking control of two compounds and expelling guards from the detention centre. Senior Sergeant Thomas Lelepo told Reuters that order had been restored on Sunday.

In related news, a refugee held at the Nauru detention centre, identified as ‘Yusuf’, told The Guardian that he has been denied necessary medical treatment after suffering a heart attack. After presenting at the Nauru hospital needing treatment for which the hospital lacked the facilities, IHMS approved his transfer to Papua New Guinea, but over one month later he has still not been transferred. 

Weekly media wrap - 20 December 2016

The Federal Court found that immigration minister Peter Dutton unreasonably delayed making decisions on refugees’ applications for citizenship. Advocates say that the decision will provide hope to thousands who have had their cases ‘put in the bottom drawer’.

Michael Pezzullo, the Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, travelled to the US to shore up the refugee resettlement deal that Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull struck with outgoing President Barack Obama. Pezzullo and other senior bureaucrats discussed operational details of the deal in a series of meetings with Department of Homeland Security officials and figures connected to President-elect Trump.

The planned evacuation of refugees from Aleppo, Syria was halted amid reports of an attack on a convoy leaving rebel-held areas. Late in the week, opposition rebels and pro-government forces reached a new deal to enable over 6000 remaining civilians and fighters to leave the besieged city.

Weekly media wrap - 12 December 2016

A two-week coronial inquest into the death of Hamid Kehazaei, an asylum seeker who had been detained on Manus Island, concluded this week in Queensland. Kehazaei died at Brisbane's Mater Hospital as a result of severe sepsis from a leg infection in September 2014. The inquest heard new evidence from medical staff and health professionals, as well as from Department of Immigration and Border Protection staff. Evidence detailed the worsening condition of Kehazaei while being treated in detention and the limited responses that ultimately led to his death.

In the United States, two influential Republican politicians wrote to the Obama administration demanding declassification of information about the deal with the Australian Government to resettle refugees currently on Manus Island and Nauru. Commentators have recognised a potential risk to this resettlement deal when Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes office in early 2017.

This week, around 500 teachers across Australia will wear shirts with messages calling for an end to Australia’s offshore detention of refugees on Manus Island and Nauru. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has condemned the protest, coordinated by Teachers for Refugees, as ‘absolutely inappropriate in classrooms’ because ‘teachers should be focused on teaching’.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce offered support for the replication and expansion of a successful refugee resettlement model in rural northern New South Wales. The arrival of three refugee families has helped to revive the small town of Mingoola. 

Weekly media wrap - 6 December 2016

Activists protesting Australia’s refugee policies glued their hands to the railing in the House of Representatives public gallery on Wednesday, causing Question Time to be adjourned. Protests continued on Thursday. The Whistleblowers, Activists and Citizens Alliance took responsibility for the protests.

President-elect Donald Trump stated that he would stop refugees from the Middle East from entering the US ‘dead cold flat’, throwing into doubt the resettlement deal with Australia. Prime Minister Turnbull played down these doubts, claiming that the Australian government was ‘confident that [the deal would] continue through the change of administration’.

The inquest into the 2013 death of asylum seeker Hamid Kehazaei began this week. Kehazaei died of sepsis from a leg infection 13 days after presenting for treatment at the Manus Island clinic. The inquest heard that Australia’s immigration department frequently dismisses doctors’ advice to transport critically ill detainees to hospital. 

Weekly media wrap - 29 November 2016

Crossbench senators denied their support to the controversial bill to impose a lifetime ban on all asylum seekers who arrive by boat from entering Australia. Without this support, the bill will fail to pass unless key amendments are made. Relatedly, a parliamentary joint committee on human rights released a report on Tuesday stating that the bill in its present form could constitute both direct and indirect discrimination. Despite this, the five Liberal members of the committee maintained that the ban should be legislated.  

Volker Turk, the UNHCR’s assistant high commissioner for protection, called the Australian government’s failure to process the 30,000 asylum seekers in the community on bridging visas ‘a social time bomb’. He expressed to Fairfax Media that it is ‘very urgent’ to resolve this issue, in order to ‘make sure that people can get on with their lives’.

Turk also stated that UNHCR staff would help with screening and resettlement in Australia’s refugee deal with the US, but only as a ‘one-off’. The details of the deal remain unclear, with two senior Republicans writing to the Obama administration to appeal for more information.

Results of a new Monash University survey show that although Australians strongly support taking migrants through the humanitarian program, a majority of Australians disapprove of asylum seekers arriving by boat. Only 2% of those surveyed agreed that Australia’s poor treatment of refugees was the biggest issue facing Australia today.

Weekly media wrap - 22 November 2016

The UNHCR submitted a mental health report to the Senate inquiry into abuse, self-harm and neglect on Nauru and Manus Island. The study reported psychological disorders in 88 per cent of the 181 asylum seekers and refugees who were examined, including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. According to the report, these findings are ‘amongst the highest recorded rates of any surveyed population’. The study was included in a broader UNHCR submission.

In a Sky News interview with Andrew Bolt, immigration minister Peter Dutton stated that former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser made mistakes in allowing certain migrants into Australia in the 1970s. Claiming that a large number of foreign fighters in conflict zones are descendants of these migrants, Dutton argued that Australia is paying for Fraser’s errors. When challenged during Question Time by opposition leader Bill Shorten, Dutton responded: ‘Of the last 33 people who have been charged with terrorist-related offences in this country, 22 of those people are from second- and third-generation Lebanese-Muslim background’. The Lebanese Muslim Association responded, labelling Dutton’s comments reckless.

Dutton told ABC’s Australian Story that the federal government may accept more refugees from Syria and Iraq. The immigration department has reported that of the 12,000 extra humanitarian visas announced under the Abbott Government in September 2015, 6507 refugees have so far been settled in Australia. Defending the often ‘long and protracted’ security process involved in screening and settling refugees, Dutton suggested that ‘if people have faith in the integrity of the process … it does give the government the ability to expand’. 

Francois Crepeau, United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, concluded an 18-day visit to Australia, finding that hate speech, xenophobia and nationalism have increased. Impressing the importance of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth), Crepeau stated: ‘Politicians who have engaged in this negative discourse seem to have given permission to people on the street to act in xenophobic ways and to allow for the rise of nationalist groups’.

In a final meeting between Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and US President Barack Obama, the leaders discussed the agreement for US resettlement of refugees from Nauru and Manus Island. It remains unclear whether President-elect Donald Trump will honour the agreement after he assumes office on January 20, 2017.

Weekly media wrap - 15 November 2016

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that the United States will resettle some of the asylum seekers currently being held in Australia’s offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island. Turnbull stated that this will be a ‘one off’ deal and priority will be given to the ‘most vulnerable which are family units’. American officials will begin assessing refugees in the next few days. The US resettlement deal is one of several that the government is reportedly working on.

731 asylum seekers held on Manus Island filed a claim against the Papua New Guinea Government. They are seeking enforcement of the April decision by the PNG Supreme Court that the detention centre on Manus is unconstitutional and should be shut down. They are further requesting monetary compensation for breach of their constitutional rights. The court rejected an earlier similar claim because it was not signed by the asylum seekers themselves, but by their legal representation.

Wilson Security, the firm contracted by the Australian Government to protect asylum seekers in offshore detention centres, admitted that it has not passed on all incident records from the Nauru centre to the immigration department. A submission by Wilson to the Senate inquiry into serious incidents on Nauru noted that the company ‘did not disclose reports that it designated as “information reports” to the department’.

On Q&A, Canadian journalist Naomi Klein called Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers ‘shocking’ and an ‘atrocity’. Klein likened Australia’s policies to several of Donald Trump’s election proposals. 

Weekly media wrap - 7 November 2016

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton provided further detail about the Coalition’s proposed permanent ban on entry for asylum seekers who attempt to come to Australia by boat, even if they are genuine refugees, stating that it was designed to stop refugees from country hopping. Mr Dutton explained that the government intended to discourage asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island from going to a third country in order to apply for a visa to Australia. 

Mr Dutton also said that the ban sought to prevent asylum seekers and refugees who arrived in Australia by boat from entering into ‘sham relationships’ overseas in order to enter Australia, and suggested that the ban would help to facilitate resettlement arrangements with third countries for refugees currently on Nauru and Manus Island.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten called the proposed ban ‘ridiculous’ but did not commit to opposing the government’s plan until Labor had an opportunity to consider the enabling legislation. In response to the announcement, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd intervened in domestic politics for the first time in three years, describing the ban as ‘bad policy and bad politics’.

At an international level, a regional representative for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that the ban appeared to be in breach of Article 31 of the Refugee Convention, which prohibits the imposition of penalties on refugees on account of their manner of entry or presence in a country.

Weekly media wrap - 31 October 2016

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced new legislation that would bar asylum seekers who attempt to arrive in Australia by boat from ever receiving an Australian visa. This legislation would extend to refugees, but not to children, and would apply retroactively from 19 July 2013. The government expects to introduce these changes to the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) when Parliament sits on 7 November.

The Papua New Guinea Supreme Court rejected a court application made on behalf of asylum seekers held on Manus Island for them to be returned to Australia and compensated for being illegally detained. The application was deemed invalid as the men had not signed it themselves. Ben Lomai, the lawyer representing the asylum seekers, argued that he was unable to obtain these signatures due to the nature of their detention.

The New York Times has continued its examination of Australia’s asylum seeker policies by publishing an article by Australian journalist Waleed Aly condemning Australia’s offshore processing system.  

Weekly media wrap - 24 October 2016

Amnesty International released a report detailing evidence of child abuse and poor living conditions in Australian detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island. The report accuses the Australian Government of inflicting intentional harm on refugees and asylum seekers as part of attempts to deter potential offshore arrivals. In response to the report, The New York Times published an editorial condemning the Australian Government’s violation of international law.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection responded to the report late on Monday, saying Amnesty was repeating claims that had already been refuted by the Department and its contractors. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull rejected claims of state sponsored torture as ‘absolutely false’.  

The Australian Government passed an amendment to the Australian Border Force Act 2015 (Cth) which removes prohibitions on health professionals speaking out on the conditions in Australia’s offshore detention facilities. The amendment came after Doctors for Refugees launched a High Court challenge to the law.

Peter Dutton and the Nauruan government criticised an ABC Four Corners program aired on Monday night about refugee children on Nauru. Gaven Morris, the ABC’s director of news, defended the program, saying the lack of access to the island forced Four Corners to rely on remote interviews and the testimonies of staff who had worked there.

Weekly media wrap - 17 October 2016

After conducting an internal review of the ‘Nauru files’, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection stated that ‘the contention that [the files] represent “thousands” of cases of abuse … cannot be supported’. The department’s review concluded that 23 of the 2123 leaked incident reports related to ‘critical’ incidents, 281 related to ‘major’ incidents and 1819 related to ‘minor’ or ‘unclassified’ incidents.

Immigration minister Peter Dutton claimed that 22 Syrians whose applications for refugee resettlement in Australia were rejected for suspected terrorist links ‘may well have slipped through the net’ if processing had been rushed. Dutton has consistently stated that his priority in resettling refugees is the ‘security of our country’. 

Weekly media wrap - 10 October 2016

A UN report condemned Australia’s regional processing centre in Nauru. The report urges the Pacific nation to improve its treatment of asylum seeking and refugee children living in the Regional Processing Centres. 

In response to a question from the opposition, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection revealed it is spending more than $8 million on communications per year.

The European Union signed an agreement with the Afghan government allowing member states to deport an unlimited number of the country’s asylum seekers, and obliging the Afghan government to receive them.

3 October marked the third anniversary of the death of 368 people off the coast of Lampedusa. Since that time, more than 11,400 people have died at sea in the Mediterranean. 

Weekly media wrap - 3 October 2016

The Guardian revealed that Wilson Security, the company paid by the Australian government to provide security in offshore detention centres, ‘hired a private investigator at least twice in 2015 to determine the sources of confidential disclosures to news organisations and activists’. A spokesperson for immigration department secretary Michael Pezzullo stated that ‘The secretary … had no role in the manner Wilson chose to undertake its investigation’.

Fairfax Media spoke with an Iranian asylum seeker who was transferred from Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre to the detention centre on Christmas Island. The 26-year-old claimed that he was not told why he was transferred, and that he is suffering from significant ‘mental stress and physical pain’. Currently there are approximately 30 asylum seekers being detained on Christmas Island, along with 200 Australian residents facing deportation for serious criminal offences. 

Weekly media wrap - 26 September 2016

At the United Nations Summit for Refugees and Migrants, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull promoted Australia’s border protection policies as a model for other countries. Turnbull argued that the primary concern for domestic asylum policies should be stronger border security. Turnbull’s comments were strongly criticised by detainees on Manus Island, with Iranian refugee and journalist Behrouz Boochani arguing that ‘Australia’s offshore policy is not based on border protection, it is based on torture’. Save the Children CEO Paul Ronalds likewise condemned the comments.

At the subsequent Leaders’ Summit on Refugees hosted by US President Barack Obama, Australia committed to providing an extra $130 million over the next three years ‘to further increase support for refugees and communities in key countries of first asylum’. Turnbull announced that Australia would maintain its humanitarian refugee intake, permanently accepting 18,750 refugees per year by 2018-19, including a percentage from camps in Costa Rica. Turnbull did not address Australia’s offshore processing regime, but Nauru’s President Baron Waqa called on the international community to assist in finding durable resettlement solutions for the more than 900 refugees on the island.

The Australian Human Rights Commission released a report proposing alternatives to Australia’s current asylum-seeker policy. Titled Pathways to Protection: A human rights-based response to the flight of asylum seekers by sea, the report is ‘intended to contribute positively to public debate on alternatives to current third country processing of asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru’.

Connect Settlement Services, an agency providing health and education services for refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru, announced that it would not re-apply following the completion of its contract in December.  The company’s decision comes less than a month after Wilson Security announced its withdrawal from Australia’s offshore detention centres, meaning that all major service providers on Nauru are now planning to leave.