Weekly media wrap - 3 September 2018

In Cairns, 15 Vietnamese asylum seekers arrived by boat and were subsequently detained and transferred to Christmas Island, where they will have their asylum claims assessed. The group were likely Montagnards, a persecuted Christian minority.

In Nauru, The Guardian reported a crisis of ‘resignation syndrome’ among children, with at least 12 children transferred to Australia for urgent medical care this year. Meanwhile, in preparation for the Pacific Islands Forum, Nauruan authorities moved asylum seekers out of the detention centre and destroyed tents that have housed asylum seekers and refugees for the past five years.

In Indonesia, asylum seekers and refugees said boat turnbacks, not regional processing centres, prevented boat journeys from the country to Australia. Refugees in Indonesia face a long wait for resettlement in another country, if they are ever resettled at all. Australia has not resettled refugees from Indonesia since 2014.

In international news, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar reported systemic gross human rights violations and abuses committed against the Rohingya by Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw. The Mission documented crimes against humanity and possible genocide, evidence of the ‘gravest crimes under international law’, with 900,000 Rohingya fleeing from Myanmar into Bangladesh in 2017.

Weekly media wrap - 25 August 2018

A 12-year-old asylum seeker girl on Nauru was taken to hospital after trying to set herself on fire, another 17-year-old girl was being treated after refusing to eat, drink or receive medical care, and a 12-year-old boy on hunger strike for 20 days was flown by air ambulance to Australia with his family for medical treatment. The Australian Border Force had initially refused to allow the boy's family to accompany him.

Human rights groups launched a ‘Kids off Nauru’ campaign, setting the federal government a three-month deadline to get all refugee and asylum seeker children off the island. Meanwhile New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she wanted to meet with asylum seekers and refugees on Nauru during the Pacific Islands Forum in September. 

Ministerial responsibility for immigration policy is currently unclear following a leadership spill within the Liberal Party. Prime Minister-elect Scott Morrison is expected to settle his new Cabinet over the weekend. Former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton resigned from the position on Wednesday after mounting an unsuccessful leadership challenge.

A former outlaw motorcycle gang insider became the first known Australian to gain refugee status, after winning a landmark asylum claim in Canada.

In international news, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini commended Australia's ‘No Way’ border control policy on Italian radio, leading to a flurry of analysis of Australia’s Sovereign Borders operation in the Italian media.

Weekly media wrap - 19 August 2018

A 12-year-old Iranian-born refugee boy being held on Nauru has continued to hunger strike for almost a fortnight. Advocacy organisations and medical staff have voiced serious concerns about his mental and physical health, including the possibility of resignation syndrome and imminent death. It is not yet known whether he will be transferred to Australia for further treatment.

The Guardian has reported on several other critical child cases on Nauru, including some children needing immediate intensive care who are reportedly being removed from the island this week. Many legal challenges against the Australian Government regarding refugee children’s health have been brought before courts over the past six months, each of which has resulted in the government conceding or in court orders for children to be removed from Nauru.

The Migration (Validation of Port Appointment) Bill 2018 passed the House of Representatives with unanimous Coalition and Labor support. This retrospective legislation ultimately seeks to authorise past government actions in directing boats through Ashmore Reef between 2002-2013 in order to indefinitely detain at least 1600 asylum seekers via offshore detention. The Senate’s standing scrutiny of bills committee expressed concerns around the retrospective nature of the legislation and its attempt to fix previous government errors.

Greens MP Adam Bandt stated that boat arrivals could be stopped by processing of asylum seekers and bringing refugees to Australia more quickly. He claimed that if Australia accepts refugees, including following their processing in third countries, there is less likelihood that they will attempt to reach Australia by boat.

A recent study in Queensland demonstrates that refugees and new immigrants integrate well in Australia, particularly into regional areas. The study surveyed over 200 refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and found that the refugees reported feeling welcome and a generally high sense of belonging and safety. However, the study also demonstrated a high rate of unemployment among the new arrivals, with only 18 per cent in paid employment. 

Weekly media wrap - 11 August 2018

One hundred and twenty-three Indonesians who said they were children but were imprisoned as adults after being found guilty of people smuggling offences complained to the Australian Human Rights Commission. They were imprisoned as adults on the basis of wrist x-rays, an age determination method that is not reliable.

Qantas and Virgin are being pressured to stop participating in the forced removal of asylum seekers from Australia. The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR), among others, claimed that the airlines owed obligations to respect human rights under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The Australian Government also charters flights to remove asylum seekers and refugees.

A group of 450 asylum seekers and refugees in Nauru appealed to Canada for resettlement. The Canadian Government responded that it is unable to resettle refugees in Nauru or Papua New Guinea.

Russia presented the United States with plans for the coordinated return of refugees to Syria, aiming to repatriate 900,000 Syrians from Lebanon. The United Nations said returns are not safe, with conflict ongoing in the country.

Weekly media wrap - 6 August 2018

The Federal Court saw two orders for the transfer of children from Nauru to Australia for medical treatment. Justice Robertson ordered the transfer of a sick adolescent girl, finding the applicant ‘to be at imminent risk to her health’. A critically unwell refugee baby and his parents detained on Nauru were also ordered to be flown to Sydney for diagnosis and treatment.

Two refugees on Manus Island with critical illnesses have also been belatedly rushed to medical attention. The first, Mohammed Hamza Hussein, lost one eye in an assault four years ago and is going blind in his other eye. The second, Abdikaldeawe Abdisalam, severely injured his leg in an accident and was unable to access treatment for nearly a week. This week Hussein was flown to Port Moresby for an assessment of his failing ‘good’ eye. Doctors say his condition will not be able to be treated in Port Moresby. Abdisalam was expected to be transported to Port Moresby requiring urgent surgery.

Two deaths in Australia’s onshore and offshore immigration detention facilities were examined by coroners this week. In Queensland the state coroner found that the 2014 death of 24-year-old Iranian asylum seeker Hamid Khazaei, who died after a routine infection, was entirely preventable. In Perth, coroner Sarah Linton commenced a two-week inquest into the 2015 death of Fazel Chegeni Nejad, who died on Christmas Island after escaping from the detention centre there.

Meanwhile, the former head of the Australian Border Force, Roman Quaedvlieg, commented that all deaths within Australia’s offshore immigration regime should be investigated by an Australian judge or coroner. Quaedvlieg said the current system, which rarely formally investigates deaths, has led to a failure to address systemic problems.

Mayors and councillors from 17 Victorian local councils drafted a joint resolution to call on the Australian Government to reverse its cuts to support payments for asylum seekers living in communities on bridging visas. This comes following an end to status resolution support services from July 2018 for several thousand asylum seekers on bridging visas.

The Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten, said that a Labor government would work with countries such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Canada and New Zealand to resettle asylum seekers currently on Manus Island and Nauru. He said Labor did not believe in indefinite detention of illegal arrivals but would not commit to setting a time limit.

Weekly media wrap - 30 July 2018

Peter Dutton, Minister for Home Affairs, stated that Australia will not sign a major United Nations agreement on migration in its current form, even though Australia was involved in negotiating the deal. The Global Compact for Migration (GCM) aims to address all aspects of international migration and increase cooperation internationally. Minister Dutton does not agree with large parts of the GCM including that migration detention should be a measure of last resort and that immigration detention should not be promoted as a deterrent.

The cases of up to 1600 asylum seekers may need to be revisited following a court judgement finding that Australia’s attempted excision of Ashmore Reef was invalid. Over many years, Australian customs ships intercepted numerous asylum seeker boats and sailed them through Ashmore Reef so that the asylum seekers were considered ‘offshore arrivals’ who the government could then legally send to offshore detention centres for processing. The government is now seeking to retrospectively legitimise the excision through legislation currently under consideration.

The Australian Government stated that since Operation Sovereign Borders began in 2013, over 600 people smugglers have been arrested, and attempts to smuggle 2500 asylum seekers were stopped with 33 boats turned back. The information was revealed as part of a lifting of secrecy surrounding Operation Sovereign Borders.

A Tamil asylum seeker known as Kavi was deported to Sri Lanka, despite protection concerns including the recent murder of his father and reported disappearance of his mother and sister in Sri Lanka. Kavi’s bridging visa was cancelled before the reported disappearance of his mother and sister, and his claim for protection was subsequently denied. The Department of Home Affairs stated that the Minister will not consider protection claims from someone who does not hold a current visa. 

A group of asylum seekers currently on Nauru wrote to New Zealand’s Prime Minister seeking to be settled in New Zealand. The group stated that they do not want to use New Zealand as a means to get to Australia. The Australian Government has previously rejected New Zealand’s offer to resettle asylum seekers, citing concerns that this may be used by people smugglers as a propaganda tool.

Refugee support agencies and health services claimed that demand for mental health services for asylum seekers will continue to increase due to the government’s scheduled August cut in income support for thousands living in the community awaiting decisions on their protection claims. A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs stated that ‘Individuals on a bridging visa with work rights, and who have the capacity to work, are expected to support themselves while their immigration status is being resolved’. 

Weekly media wrap - 21 July 2018

Tamil asylum seeker Thileepan Gnaneswaran was deported this week to Sri Lanka, separating him from his wife and baby daughter. Gnaneswaran was reportedly arrested and interrogated upon his return, before being released. The UN human rights committee formally requested in writing that the Australian government not deport him. Following Gnaneswaran’s deportation, the UNHCR released a statement saying that it was alarmed by his separation from his family. 

The body of Fariborz Karami was flown from Nauru to Brisbane, following a dispute between the Australian Border Force and Karami’s family about where he would be buried.  Extended family members in Australia have taken responsibility for Karami’s funeral and burial, and anonymous donors have covered the cost of flying his body to Australia. Karami took his own life over a month ago on Nauru.

A court judgement could re-open protection applications for more than 1600 asylum seekers who arrived in Australia through Ashmore Reef, some 600 kilometres north of Broome. The judgement delivered in the federal circuit court this month found an invalid appointment of a ‘proclaimed port’ made 16 years ago by then immigration minister Philip Ruddock.

Vigils were held outside the offices of a number of Australian politicians this week to mark the fifth anniversary of offshore processing.

A motion passed by the Australian Council of Trade Unions Congress this week condemned offshore processing of asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island as discriminatory, reaffirming the ACTU’s previous position on the issue. Senior Labor leader Anthony Albanese said he did not expect a big debate over asylum seekers at the ALP conference to be held in December.

UNHCR urged all parties in Syria to provide safe passage to civilians displaced by recent fighting in the south of the country. An estimated 140,000 people remain displaced across the south-west and need safe passage out of the area, plus immediate humanitarian assistance. This follows an announcement this week of a joint Syrian-Russian initiative to set up a refugee centre in Syria to help those wishing to return home.

Weekly media wrap - 15 July 2018

Three refugees were removed from offshore centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea to Australia for medical care.

In the first case, a two-year-old girl requiring treatment for encephalitis was flown from Nauru to Papua New Guinea for medical testing. The Australian Federal Court ordered that she be brought to Australia, as the Port Moresby hospital lacked the equipment or the expertise to perform the necessary testing.

In the second case, a 14 year-old girl who attempted to set herself on fire in Nauru will also be transferred to Australia. The girl and her family, who are refugees, have been in Nauru for almost five years.

In the third case, the Australian Federal Court ordered that an Iranian refugee, Fatemeh, and her son be brought to Australia from Nauru for medical care. In March, Fatemeh was flown to Taiwan for heart surgery, before being forcefully returned to Nauru in May. Fatemeh has a serious heart condition and her son, 17, is mentally ill. According to The Guardian, the order is the ninth such case of medical intervention requiring transfer from Nauru or Papua New Guinea to Australia.

Answers to Senate Estimates questions on notice provided recent statistics on the number of people in Australian-led offshore centres in Manus Island and Nauru. At May 2018, there were 939 people in Nauru, of whom 821 were refugees. Of these, 137 were children. At the same time, there were 716 men in Manus Island, of whom 583 were refugees. 

Weekly media wrap - 8 July 2018

The Australian Government agreed to move a seriously ill refugee girl from Nauru to Australia to seek mental health care. She is at least the seventh child to be moved from offshore detention after legal action taken on their behalf. Another girl, a two-year-old refugee, was moved earlier in the week to receive treatment for encephalitis. The principal lawyer for the National Justice Project, which has represented most of the children moved, said the mental health of children in detention has reached a crisis point.

The Australian Border Force told the mother of Fariborz Karami, the Iranian asylum seeker who took his own life on Nauru last month, that his body will be sent to Iran against her wishes. Fazileh Mansour Beigi, Fariborz's mother, begged for her son to be buried in Australia, where her sister can perform a burial service and visit his grave.

The Guardian Australia reported on the case of ‘Akam’, a stateless refugee who faces indefinite incarceration in Australia because he is deemed to have failed the Department of Home Affairs’ character test.

The Federal Court ruled to reject a ban that would have seen asylum seekers detained in Melbourne, Sydney and regional Western Australia lose access to their mobile phones.

Former Defence Force personnel spoke out about the Tampa and children overboard affair in a new documentary, accusing former Prime Minister John Howard and former Labor leader Kim Beazley of manipulating events for political purposes.

A report published by Liberty Victoria's Rights Advocacy Project found laws and policies in the Australian Capital Territory are excluding asylum seekers and refugees from accessing essential services, namely housing and education.

Heavy fighting in south-west Syria pushed more than 270,000 people from their homes towards the Israeli and Jordanian borders. The UN warned of a humanitarian catastrophe caused by the fighting that erupted after a Russian-backed army offensive to recapture rebel-held southern Syria.

In Australia, the crisis support service is Lifeline (13 11 14).

Weekly media wrap - 30 June 2018

A terminally ill Afghan refugee was moved to Australia this week and is receiving palliative care at a Gold Coast hospital. This follows calls from doctors to move him from what they have described as inadequate specialist palliative care on Nauru. The Australian Department of Home Affairs originally offered to send the man to Taiwan for palliative care.

The mother of Fariborz Karami, the Iranian asylum seeker who died on Nauru two weeks ago, wrote to the Australian Border Force seeking the return of her son’s body. Karami’s body remains refrigerated on the grounds of the regional processing centre, which continues to be under Australian control. Regarding the matter, a spokesman for the Department of Home Affairs advised that ‘these are matters for the Nauruan authorities’.

Two members of a Tamil asylum seeker family from Queensland were granted an urgent injunction preventing immigration authorities from deporting them. The family has been in immigration detention in Melbourne since March, when they were forcibly removed from their home in Queensland.

The Australian Government has not granted any humanitarian visas for ‘persecuted’ white South Africans. A spokeswoman for Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the applications were still being assessed and none had been granted. A senior official told Senate Estimates last month that Minister Dutton had never asked bureaucrats to prioritise refugee visa applications from white South Africans.

European Union leaders met in Brussels to negotiate a new deal to respond to the continent's continued issues with migration. In a final and broad statement, the European leaders agreed to set up joint asylum processing sites and restrict migrant moves within the bloc. Leaders also agreed to tighten their external borders and increase financing for some North African states to prevent migration to Europe. The deal comes following Italy’s recent refusal to allow several migrant rescue boats to dock at its ports, seeking shared responsibility for people arriving across the Mediterranean.

South Korea’s Justice Ministry said their laws governing the arrival of refugees will be tightened, after a rapid rise in the number of Yemeni asylum seekers. More than 552 people from Yemen arrived on the southern island of Jeju in South Korea between January and May. The country has granted refugee status to just over 800 people since 1994.

Almost 300 Syrian refugees left Lebanon this week, returning to Syria under the supervision of the UNHCR. In April, about 3000 Syrian refugees in the Arsal camps registered with the committee organising their return. They asked to return to their towns under a framework of reconciliation with the Syrian authorities.

Weekly media wrap - 23 June 2018

Over 2000 doctors have signed an open letter urging the government to transfer a Hazara refugee who is dying of lung cancer from Nauru to Australia. Doctors claim the man needs immediate palliative care and have stated that the treatment he is receiving in the Australian-run facility on Nauru is ‘totally inadequate’. The Australian Border Force provided him the option or either being transferred to Taiwan for care, or being returned to Afghanistan. A public petition to bring the man to Australia has also gathered more than 22,000 signatures.

Meanwhile, a Federal Court judge ruled that a pregnant Somali refugee woman requiring an abortion be transferred from Nauru to Australia. The pregnant woman is the victim of female genital mutilation and requires specialised medical treatment. The Australian Government previously proposed she be sent to Taiwan for the procedure.

A further six refugees from Manus Island were transferred to the US to be resettled. The government has confirmed that a total of 292 refugees have now been transferred to the US from Manus Island and Nauru under the US-Australia resettlement deal.

A family of Tamil asylum seekers living in Biloela QLD for many years, including two Australian-born daughters, lost their appeal to stay in Australia and will likely be deported back to Sri Lanka. Many of the Biloela community have rallied against the family’s deportation, and their case and treatment has sparked widespread attention, including a petition urging the Minister for Home Affairs to allow them to stay signed by more than 62,000 people. The family has 21 days to decide whether they will contest the Federal Circuit Court ruling.

The federal court ruled that asylum seekers in detention can keep their mobile phones, following the government’s legislation introduced in September 2017 banning detainees from having phones and other items considered risky.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie introduced legislation into parliament seeking to abolish mandatory detention of asylum seekers and refugees. The proposed legislation promotes community-based alternatives, and would require all asylum seekers currently in offshore detention to be brought to Australia. It would also establish a framework of collaboration with Asia-Pacific nations.

Following widespread outrage over the separation of immigrant and asylum seeker parents and children at the US southern border, President Trump signed an Executive Order to end family separations and detain parents and children together. However, the language of the Order leaves room for exceptions, and Trump maintained that strong immigration enforcement and border security will continue. 

Weekly media wrap - 16 June 2018

An Iranian asylum seeker committed suicide in Nauru. The Guardian reported the 26-year-old man, identified as Fariborz K, was found in his tent on Friday morning. A recent health assessment identified him as ‘severely traumatised’. Twelve asylum seekers and refugees have died in the Pacific regional processing centres: seven in Papua New Guinea and five in Nauru.

Several thousand asylum seekers in Australia are in the process of being cut off from social support in 2018. Since 4 June, Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) have been ended for many asylum seekers on bridging visas. SRSS comprised payment of around $35 a day, plus case management support and access to trauma and torture counselling.

In Europe, Italy refused to disembark a boat carrying 629 migrants and refugees, who had been rescued in Libyan territorial waters. Following a standoff between Italy and Malta, Spain offered to accept the boat in the port of Valencia. 

Weekly media wrap - 9 June 2018

A Canberra law firm representing a number of Commonwealth Games athletes seeking asylum in Australia said that the Department of Home Affairs rejected requests by their clients to postpone protection visa interviews so they could access psychological counselling.

A report by the Australian National Audit Office found that the merger between the departments of Immigration and Customs to create the Australian Border Force had not delivered expected budget savings or promised benefits. The report also stated that 'urgent and significant action' was needed to address the department's ongoing record keeping problems.

$70 million in compensation was paid to former Manus Island detainees, bringing Australia's largest human rights class action settlement closer to an end. The class action was settled a year ago without any admission of liability by the Australian Government.

The Australian reported that the Labor Party is facing a ‘grassroots revolt’ over refugee policy ahead of its NSW conference on June 30, with city and country branches of the party lobbying for changes to Australia’s offshore system.

In international news, more than 100 people died attempting to reach Europe after their boat sank off the coast of Tunisia. More than 65 others were rescued by the coast guard. The International Organization for Migration said the shipwreck was the most deadly in the Mediterranean Sea since February 2, when 90 people drowned off the coast of Libya. 

Weekly media wrap - 3 June 2018

Memorials were held around Australia and on Manus Island for Salim Kyawning, the Rohingya refugee who died on Manus Island after jumping from a moving bus. Salim allegedly faced significant mental health issues while in detention, as well as epilepsy and frequent seizures, for which he had previously been sent to Australia for treatment. Fellow refugees on Manus Island claim that his death demonstrates serious health care concerns for those remaining on the island.

The Victorian Labor Conference’s scheduled debate on refugee policy was voted down at the last minute. Various unions joined forces to unexpectedly shut down the Conference and defer various motions to Labor’s administrative committee. It was originally anticipated that the conference would consider the closure of offshore detention centres and bringing remaining asylum seekers to Australia, amongst other social policy issues. The debate shutdown disappointed many party members who want Labor’s border protection and indefinite detention policies reconsidered, or at least debated. Confusion remains as to Labor’s overall policy position with varying views being voiced amongst party members.

Residents  of the small town of Biloela in Queensland used the platform of TV program Q&A to make a public plea to Minister Dutton to allow a Tamil asylum seeker family to stay in Australia, following the removal of the family into the custody of Border Force earlier this year. The family has lived in Biloela for approximately three years, and the two children were born in Australia. The government claims that the family does not meet the requirements for protection in Australia. Residents of the town began a petition which now has more than 100,000 signatures.

The government may consider expanding a pilot program to assist skilled refugees to become requalified in Australia. The assistant minister responsible for the program, Nationals MP David Gillespie, said the pilot was showing positive results and that he had been discussing the scheme and employment opportunities with industry leaders, settlement services and key sectors. However, this proposal comes soon after the recent federal budget announcement requiring refugees to spend six months on Centrelink payments accessing employment services, as well as debates around regional and rural employment visas and proposals to prevent migrants from leaving regional and rural areas.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that Australia’s refugee resettlement deal with Cambodia will expire, as planned, at the end of 2018. This resettlement deal has been described as ‘unsuccessful’ due to significantly low number of refugees who took up the offer to relocate from the detention centres in Nauru to Cambodia. 

Weekly media wrap - 27 May 2018

The Australian Minister for Home Affairs raised the prospect of considering a New Zealand offer to resettle 150 refugees held in offshore detention, on the proviso that they would be banned from coming to Australia. Media reports this as a bid to pressure the opposition to support legislation to stop anybody who arrived by boat from ever reaching Australia’s shores.

A Rohingya refugee man reportedly committed suicide this week on Manus Island after jumping out of a moving vehicle. Refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island will hold a vigil on Friday for Salim, who is the seventh to die on the island and the third apparent suicide in less than a year. Salim had been on Manus Island for almost five years.

Also on Manus Island, 120 asylum seekers have been relocated on the island after a fire broke out in their accommodation. No injuries have been reported, but there was significant damage to the accommodation facility.

Doctors on Nauru have made repeated requests to the Australian Border Force to move a terminally ill refugee off the island to receive palliative care, which cannot be provided on Nauru. He is currently in the Australian-built RPC1 camp on the island, which doctors on the island have said is ‘dangerously inadequate’.

An edited transcript of a television interview by Labor MP Linda Burney on asylum seekers was distributed through Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's office. The edits removed Burney’s calls for a ‘time limit’ on the offshore detention of refugees. Ms Burney's office has taken responsibility and described the incident as a ‘stuff up’.

The Victorian state Labor conference this weekend is expected to discuss Labor’s policy towards asylum seekers and refugees, and debate an urgency motion calling for an end to offshore immigration detention and the transfer of all remaining asylum seekers to the Australian mainland within 90 days.

In a press briefing this week, the UNHCR highlighted a significant increase in the number of people fleeing persecution in the North of Central America, calling on the international community to address their protection needs. More than 294,000 asylum seekers and refugees from the North of Central America were registered globally as of the end of 2017, an increase of 58 per cent from a year earlier. 

Weekly media wrap - 19 May 2018

A significant number of athletes who went missing during the Commonwealth Games have sought asylum in Australia. Five athletes were granted bridging visas in Canberra while their claims for protection are assessed. Refugee advocates claimed they had helped many others lodge applications for protection; some estimated up to 100 people nationally could be seeking refugee status. 

The Guardian Australia reported that the Department of Home Affairs is withdrawing income support and housing from up to 100 refugees and asylum seekers from Nauru and Manus Island who are in Australia for medical treatment. The group will receive a final departure bridging visa E, which includes the right to work but no financial assistance. Refugee advocates said the group was largely made up of family groups and elderly people with serious physical and mental health issues.

Amnesty International criticised the Australian Government for reducing critical health services on Manus Island. A report by the organisation labeled cuts to health care 'inexplicable' in an environment with one of the highest rates of mental illness in the world. Meanwhile, an Iranian refugee, Fatemah, and her 17-year-old son were returned to Nauru from Taiwan against medical advice. Fatemah and her son were transferred to Taiwan to receive critical heart surgery and treatment for severe mental illness respectively. 

Bill Shorten said a future Labor government would not place time limits on offshore immigration detention, despite a draft party platform prepared for Labor's national conference in July calling for asylum seekers to not be held on Manus Island and Nauru longer than 90 days.

In international news, Greece’s parliament passed a bill to ease overcrowding on its island refugee camps – which currently hold more than double their capacity – and to make asylum procedures simpler and faster. Human rights groups criticised the bill for also shortening appeals processes. 

Weekly media wrap - 12 May 2018

Malaysian police intercepted a boat carrying 131 asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, bound for Australia or New Zealand. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the people smuggling operation had been running since mid-2017. In response, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said ‘the need for Operation Sovereign Borders is as vital today as it was when it began.’

In relation to refugees in Papua New Guinea, Minister Dutton said resettlement to another country was very unlikely. Refugees in the country hope to be resettled under an agreement between Australia and the United States entered into in 2015. While the agreement provides for the resettlement of up to 1250 refugees from PNG and Nauru, the United States is under no obligation to accept that number.

In Nauru, Iranian and Somali refugees seeking resettlement to the United States have been rejected, apparently in line with the Trump Administration ‘travel ban’. The Guardian reported that 85 refugees have been resettled from Manus Island and 162 from Nauru. UNHCR pointed out that over 80 per cent of asylum seekers transferred by Australia to PNG and Nauru have been recognised as refugees, therefore requiring a durable solution.

In Rome, seventeen people applied to the European Court of Human Rights claiming that Italy violated absolute norms of human rights law in providing aid and assistance to Libyan border authorities. A number of the applicants, who were rescued at sea and returned to Libya in November 2017, were allegedly detained and treated inhumanely.

Weekly media wrap - 5 May 2018

A Federal Court judge delayed a decision regarding an asylum seeker family facing deportation to Sri Lanka. The judge adjourned to review the arguments before making her decision, requesting the Department of Home Affairs not to deport the family. Residents of the family’s small Queensland town have protested at the Federal Court, asking for the family to be allowed to return home. The family of four had overstayed their bridging visa by one day.

Penny Wong, Labor leader in the Senate, indicated that her party should be advocating for a limit on the time asylum seekers spend in detention, in response to a poll that found 50 per cent of voters support a 90-day limit on holding asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull accused Labor of ‘rolling out the welcome mat to the people smugglers’.

A United Nations Security Council delegation commenced a visit to Bangladesh and Myanmar this week. In Bangladesh the delegation was witnessing the circumstances of Rohingya Muslims in camps housing the refugees who fled Myanmar and the military-led violence. Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed in December to begin repatriating the refugees in January. The UNHCR and Bangladesh recently finalised a memorandum of understanding to ensure the repatriation process must be ‘safe, voluntary and dignified ... in line with international standards’.

US immigration officials ­announced that a busy border crossing was at capacity to process asylum seekers, in advance of hundreds of Central Americans arriving to the US border to ask for asylum. The migrant caravan received attention after the US Government called it a threat to America. 

Weekly media wrap - 28 April 2018

Former commissioner of the Australian Border Force, Roman Quaedvlieg, admitted that the ABF has often obstructed genuine medical transfers required for asylum seekers on Nauru. Ongoing tension remains between the ABF and medical practitioners regarding medical transfers out of offshore processing, with the transfer of many critically ill patients being refused or delayed. These admissions come at a time when the Australian Government’s health contractor has deemed medical facilities on Nauru as unsafe for surgery.

In related news, 12-year old asylum seeker boy, Ali, released a series of videos from his tent in Nauru, describing his state of despair and the severe depression of his mother and brother. Doctors have recommended for over a year that Ali’s mother be transferred to Australia to seek urgent medical treatment, and concerns have also been raised about the mental health of Ali himself after several attempts at self-harm.

Indonesian fishermen rescued a boatload of 76 Rohingya refugees off the coast of Aceh, Indonesia. The refugees, fleeing Myanmar, claimed to be seeking to reach Australia.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Police, with assistance from Australian Federal Police, busted a complex people-smuggling network planning to transport fake Rohingya refugees to Australia. The three alleged people smugglers are said to be Rohingya, Bangladeshi and Indonesian, and had allegedly organised fake papers for six Bangladeshi men previously residing in Malaysia, with the papers stating they were Muslim Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar.

A political debate was sparked following proposals that the Australian War Memorial commemorate navy personnel involved in Operation Sovereign Borders, including those who were involved in the policy of boat turnbacks. Various Labor and Greens MPs have described the idea, proposed by the memorial’s director Brendan Nelson, as igniting culture wars on the sensitive topic of asylum seeker policy and politicising Australia’s armed forces.

Weekly media wrap - 22 April 2018

The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said that it had not received any asylum applications from South African white farmers, after Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton expressed interest in the farmers in March. UNHCR further suggested that the group would not qualify for refugee status, noting that ‘[u]nder the 1951 Refugee Convention, a person must be outside their country of origin in order to claim asylum.’

The Australian High Court unanimously upheld a fast-track refugee assessment process introduced in 2014 to handle the claims of 30,000 asylum seekers who arrived in Australia by boat before 2013.

Fifty refugees will soon depart Papua New Guinea and Nauru for resettlement in the United States, under a bilateral agreement between the Australian and American governments. According to The Guardian, 145 refugees have already left Nauru and 85 have left Papua New Guinea.

Refugee advocacy groups are lobbying the Australian Government to create a private refugee sponsorship avenue in Australia. The proposed Community Refugee Sponsorship Initiative (CRSI) would begin with 5000 additional places per year, in addition to Australia’s existing humanitarian intake.