Weekly media wrap - 1 July 2019

The Australian and Papuan New Guinean governments announced in a joint statement that there will be a limited extension but not a renewal of the $423 million contract for Security company Paladin, which provides services to asylum seekers on Manus Island. Prior to this announcement, PNG’s new Prime Minister James Marape stated that he did not want foreign security companies undertaking this work, which could be done by PNG companies. The limited extension of the Paladin contract will allow time while the PNG government seeks to procure a local provider. 

US President Donald Trump praised Australia’s asylum seeker policies, tough border protection measures and deterrent advertising campaign. On the day of the G20 Summit and a meeting between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the President, Trump tweeted that ‘much can be learned’ from Australian advertisements aimed to deter asylum seekers from using boats to come to Australia. 

The Coalition government increased rhetoric against the medevac legislation, with the aim of soon repealing it through parliament. Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton claimed that the new arrangements risk an increase of people smuggler boats and also encourage asylum seekers and refugees currently on Manus island and Nauru to reject offers to be resettled in the United States in hope that they will instead get to Australia. The government will require the support of four cross-benchers to repeal the legislation. 

Manus Island police stated that the asylum seeker who set himself on fire in his room last week at the Lorengau accommodation will be charged with attempted suicide and arson, with the latter carrying a sentence of life imprisonment. The man is badly injured with severe burns to his face and ear, and has reportedly been medically evacuated for treatment in Port Moresby.

Abdul Aziz Muhamat, a Sudanese refugee and former detainee on Manus Island, gave a speech before the United Nations Human Rights Council regarding the conditions for asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru. Muhamat described the situation as a humanitarian crisis requiring urgent action and urged the Council to hold the Australian government to account. Muhamat was offered asylum in Switzerland after he was permitted to travel from Manus Island to receive a human rights award.

Weekly media wrap - 24 June 2019

An asylum seeker set himself and his accommodation alight at Hillside Haus on Manus Island. The incident occurred following the man allegedly returning from the local medical centre where he sought treatment for back pain but was denied. The man is currently being treated at the Pacific International Hospital. This is the second case of self-immolation in two weeks. 

The minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton, told Sky News that pregnant asylum seekers on Nauru who were victims of rape and coming to Australia in need of abortion were ‘trying it on’ so they could remain in Australia. Minister Dutton claimed these women would change their mind upon arrival to Australia, and seek legal injunctions to stay. These remarks have been condemned by lawyers and asylum seeker advocates.  

The Morrison government is expected to appeal a recent federal court decision that tested the new ‘medevac’ law, ruling that doctors don’t have to speak to a patient in order to make a medical assessment. Two doctors assessed the medical records of a 29-year old Iraqi man without a face-to-face interview or physical examination, and determined the need for this man’s urgent medical evacuation. 

With the Australian parliament resuming on 2 July, the government is expected to seek to repeal the medevac law. Labor has maintained it will not support repealing this legislation, but has not ruled out supporting amendments. The government will need the votes of the crossbench in the Senate in order to repeal this law. The law has so far seen 30 people brought to Australia for care. 

The PNG immigration minister, Petrus Thomas, said his government expects to ‘cancel or terminate’ the controversial contract with Paladin to run refugee and asylum seeker accommodation on Manus Island. The contract expires in two weeks, and Minister Dutton indicated this week that this contract may be extended, contradicting the PNG’s position. 

Weekly media wrap - 11 June 2019

Self-harm and suicide attempts have recently increased amongst refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island, sparking increased tensions and the deployment of a PNG paramilitary police unit. This crisis has also led to local hospitals being overrun as asylum seekers are being referred on to locally-funded health services despite Australia spending over $20 million on a healthcare contract with another hospital. 

Australia has been internationally condemned for detaining a blind and mentally ill Tamil refugee, known as Kumar, for almost a decade. A United Nations working group stated that Kumar’s detention is a contravention of Australia’s human rights and international legal obligations. The group called on Australia to release Kumar from detention and offer compensation and reparations. Kumar was recognised by Australia as a refugee in 2010, and a previous adverse security assessment was overturned in 2016.  

Labor’s Home Affairs spokeswoman, Kristina Keneally, claimed that an increasing number of asylum seekers are now reaching Australia via airplane. Keneally condemned the Australian Government’s efforts to maintain control of Australia’s air borders over the past four years, and questioned why aerial patrols of Australia’s borders were halted for an unknown period of time.

Weekly media wrap - 3 June 2019

In the federal government’s post-election re-shuffle, the department of home affairs, led by Peter Dutton, regained responsibility for refugee settlement services and migrant adult education. Since 2013 these functions have been performed by the departments of social services and education. Refugee support groups criticised the move. 

A boat carrying 20 Sri Lankan asylum seekers was intercepted on its way to Australia. The group of Sri Lankans, which included at least one baby, was returned to Colombo following the rejection of their asylum claims. The boat had left Sri Lanka in the first week of May, following the country’s Easter bombing attacks. 

The US attorney responsible for bringing charges against two Rwandan men, Gregoire Nyaminani and Leonidas Bimenyimana, stated that the United States had been ‘certain’ the two were members of a Hutu terror group. The men were recently re-settled in Australia as part of the federal government’s deal with the US, a decision that has been criticised by immigration experts and lawyers. 

In international news, an internal UN document revealed that more than half the refugees currently held in Libyan detention centres are at risk due to the deteriorating security situation in and around Tripoli. The UNHCR called for all refugees to be evacuated from the detention centres.

Weekly media wrap - 26 May 2019

Following its re-election last Saturday, the Coalition government has prioritised a repeal of the medical evacuation laws passed in February 2019. The Treasurer Josh Frydenberg confirmed there is budget available to keep the Christmas Island centre open, should the Senate block the repeal bill. 

Since the outcome of the election on Saturday, Manus Island- and Nauru-based refugees and advocates have voiced their concern about the re-elected Morrison government. They, and doctors on the islands, reported a surge in apparent suicide attempts and self-harm on both islands since the election, although there have been varied reports on the number of cases. 

The Guardian reported that more than 40 people have been transferred to Australia for urgent medical treatment from Manus Island and Nauru since the passing of the medical evacuation laws earlier this year. The Medical Evacuation Response Group (Merg), which is triaging the asylum seekers and refugees seeking medical care, said they were receiving an average of 11 applications a day. 

Families in a Syrian refugee camp wrote to Prime Minister Scott Morrison urgently seeking evacuation. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the letter urges the Morrison government to evacuate at least 30 Australian children detained in this refugee camp for Islamic State families. The families are seeking urgent help as a result of dangerous and squalid conditions, significant injuries, illnesses and malnourishment. The letter was sent to the Prime Minister via Save The Children. 

Weekly media wrap - 18 May 2019

News outlet Politico reported that two Rwandan men accused of mass murder and detained by the US were granted humanitarian visas by Australia as part of the federal government’s resettlement deal with the US. Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the men were in Australia but said they had been screened by security agencies.

A Tamil family detained by immigration authorities in March last year lost their final appeal for asylum and will likely be deported to Sri Lanka. The family are at the centre of a grassroots campaign driven by their local community in Biloela, central Queensland. Labor leader Bill Shorten vowed to reopen the case if he wins the federal election.

The Chinese-Australian community paid tribute to former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, who passed away on Thursday, for his decision to offer asylum to thousands of Chinese students and their families in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

Six former Afghani soldiers who sought asylum in Australia after last October's Invictus Games in Sydney were granted permanent protection visas.

The UNHCR said at least 65 people drowned when their boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the Tunisian coast. It was one the deadliest shipwrecks involving migrants trying to reach Europe this year.

Weekly media wrap - 13 May 2019

In the lead-up to the federal election, Prime Minister Scott Morrison claimed that the current US resettlement deal still has scope to resettle hundreds more refugees. The Liberal party also won’t rule out New Zealand’s previous offer to take 150 refugees from Australia’s offshore detention. Meanwhile, Labor claimed it will use the US refugee deal to scope a potential resettlement arrangement with New Zealand, and may pursue other third-country options to get people off Manus Island and Nauru. Check out Asylum Insight’s Special Election Explainer for more details on the parties’ policies. 

Labor’s Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong slammed a campaign which it claims is spreading false content about Labor’s refugee policies. The WeChat campaign, from an influential Chinese social media site, claimed that a future Labor government would increase humanitarian intake at least tenfold over the next decade and would allow visas to five or six of each refugee’s relatives. Labor is requesting that the Liberal party rule out any involvement in this campaign. 

Refugee support workers on Manus Island claimed they were directed to falsify reporting documents to make it appear that they were meeting government requirements. Some workers resigned in protest after being asked to falsify records, including writing fraudulent files for clients they had not seen and completing management plans for refugees without any assessment.

Weekly media wrap - 6 May 2019

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the federal government’s plan to cap refugee intake numbers at the current rate of 18,750 a year for the next three years if the coalition is re-elected. Morrison detailed the particulars of the refugee intake program, which includes an increased offshore component target of 60 per cent for women, as well as an aim to resettle 40 per cent of arrivals in regional areas. 

Victorian children’s commissioner Liana Buchanan increased calls for the federal government to provide access to detention centres, following reports from advocates that at least five children under the age of seven are detained at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation Centre facility. Priya, a Tamil mother currently detained at the centre with her family, accused the government of failing to give adequate medical care to her youngest daughter, Tharnicaa, who is almost 2 years old. 

The partner of Omid Masoumali, an Iranian refugee who died after setting himself on fire on Nauru in April 2016, is suing the Australian Government and International Heath and Medical Services (IHMS) for failing to provide adequate medical care for her husband.

The Nauruan government failed to approve the contract extension of Canstruct, the company responsible for managing the island’s processing centre, until hours before it was due to expire. The stand-off, which saw Canstruct and Wilson inform caseworkers and other stakeholders that they were ‘demobilising’, resulted in chaos and confusion for asylum seekers and refugees, who were told to clear out of the centre and warned that healthcare may cease. 

A new global survey found that 46 per cent of Australian respondents believed immigration should be reduced, while 23 per cent thought it should be increased. In a national poll, conducted by Essential Media, 51 per cent of respondents believed immigration was ‘generally positive’ for the country, while 35 per cent thought it was ‘generally negative’. 

Weekly media wrap - 29 April 2019

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre released a report which found that a federal government decision to change the eligibility requirements for Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) – a welfare program for community-based asylum seekers – had created a ‘housing and hunger crisis’. 

The Government of Nauru rejected comments by former president, Sprent Dabwido, that the country’s offshore detention deal with Australia had led to corruption and greed on the island.

The UNHCR evacuated 325 African refugees – mainly Eritrean, Sudanese and Nigerian – from the Qasr Ben Gashir detention centre in Libya because of deteriorating security and escalating violence.

In the USA, the FBI arrested the leader of a right-wing militia that was detaining migrant families at gunpoint near the border in southern New Mexico.

Weekly media wrap - 20 April 2019

Former Nauru president Sprent Dabwido called for an end to detention on the island and expressed regret for making an agreement with the Gillard Government to re-open an offshore processing centre there, which has since led to the deaths of refugees. Mr Dabwido is currently in Australia, having sought asylum himself. Dabwido is among a group of former politicians called the ‘Nauru 19’ who were involved in a protest against a government crackdown on MPs in 2015. The Nauru Government sought to convict and jail the protesters.

Rallies were held on Palm Sunday in capital cities and regional centres across Australia calling for an end to the offshore detention of asylum seekers.

In the United States, the Justice Department decided that asylum seekers who have proven a credible fear for their safety will no longer be able to ask a judge for bond release. This decision could mean more migrants are indefinitely detained while they wait for their cases to be heard. 

Weekly media wrap - 15 April 2019

The Australian Government defended the $185 million spent to reopen the Christmas Island immigration detention centre, but subsequently recommended that it soon be closed. The centre was reopened following the passing of the Medevac legislation, with 140 contractors and 14 medical staff, however there are yet to be any detainees transferred there. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg claimed the expense was justified as the centre sent ‘a deterrent to people who would try to game the system’.  

An Australian Paladin employee on Manus Island was charged with sexual offences against two PNG women. It is understood that, prior to his arrest, Paladin management took no action following one woman’s reporting of the incident. The man received bail however has been ordered not to leave Manus Island, including surrendering his passport. The matter has been adjourned to May for a final ruling.

Malaysian authorities fear a new wave of people smuggling by sea after 37 people were found on a beach in Northern Malaysia. It is believed that they are either from Bangladesh or Rohingya from Myanmar. Meanwhile, Bangladesh has sent armed border guards to patrol its southern border with Myanmar, stirring diplomatic tensions.

Weekly media wrap - 7 April 2019

The federal budget, released this week, includes expenditure of $2.9 billion on immigration in 2019–20, of which around 65 per cent is to be spent on irregular migrants on and offshore.  

The key elements of the federal budget in relation to asylum policy have been reported as:

• the repeal of Medevac legislation that allows doctors to recommend seriously ill asylum seekers and refugees be transferred from Nauru and Manus Island for medical treatment in Australia; 

• the closure of Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre, reopened in February at a cost of $180 million, from 1 July 2019; and 

• the reduction of payments to asylum seekers in Australia under the Status Resolution Support Service (SRSS) from $139.8 million in 2017-18 to $52.6 million in 2019-20.

For more information on the federal budget, see reporting from the Parliament of Australia, Kaldor Centre and Refugee Council of Australia.

Currently the Christmas Island centre is staffed by 150 people with no asylum seekers or refugees transferred there. One person has been transferred under the Medevac legislation, but was sent to mainland Australia for medical care. 

Under the Australia–United States resettlement agreement, 508 refugees have been transferred from Nauru and Papua New Guinea, while 1868 people remain in the two countries. 

Weekly media wrap - 31 March 2019

It was revealed by the Sydney Morning Herald this week that as immigration minister in 2014, Scott Morrison proposed a multibillion-dollar program to build new mass detention facilities in Australia for asylum seekers who were living in the community on bridging visas. The proposal, according to multiple sources, was to operate alongside Operation Sovereign Borders, and serve as a deterrent to asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat. A spokesperson for Mr Morrison said he had no recollection of such a proposal.

A Guardian Australia investigation into Australia’s onshore detention centres found serious concerns about the transparency and accountability of the operator Serco. The Guardian received a number of secret recordings, and found that guards allegedly discouraged detainees from pursuing complaints. The investigation also found allegations of abuse and mistreatment of detainees, arbitrary transfers, and claims of ‘prison-like’ conditions and rising tensions within the centres. Following these revelations, the centres are expected to be a focus of the Senate’s budget estimates hearings next month. 

The federal court criticised federal circuit court judge Alexander ‘Sandy’ Street, after he did not publish reasons for a decision in time for an asylum seeker to make an appeal. Judge Street took 75 days to publish written reasons for a judgment he delivered orally in July, in which he dismissed an application by an Iranian asylum seeker for a review of a visa rejection. However, the man had only 21 days to submit an appeal. Street has been criticised previously for this same failure.

The Queensland state government committed $3.5 million over two years to support asylum seekers to find work and access public transport. Communify Queensland, a community support organisation, will receive the funding to provide this support, as part of Queensland’s asylum seeker and refugee assistance program.

A Turkish tanker was hijacked by migrants it had rescued near the Libyan border, to avoid being returned to Libya. Five men who allegedly led the hijacking were arrested in Malta following the Armed Forces of Malta taking control of the vessel. The five men were among 108 asylum seekers rescued by the tanker. The tanker was ordered by Libyan authorities to take the migrants to Tripoli, but they allegedly forced the vessel to sail north towards Europe.

Weekly media wrap - 24 March 2019

Refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and other countries were among the victims of the Christchurch terrorist attacks last week. Khaled and Hamza Mustafa, a Syrian father and son, were the first to be buried this week. Abdul Aziz, a former refugee from Afghanistan, was hailed as a hero for chasing off the gunman at Linwood mosque. Meanwhile, Australian Defence Industry Minister Linda Reynolds linked the Christchurch terrorist attacks with parliament’s passing of the medevac bill.

Doctors signed off on the first applications for medical transfer under the new medevac bill. The applications were expected to be put to Department of Home Affairs Secretary Michael Pezzullo and Immigration Minister David Coleman by the end of the week.

Refugees living on Nauru were exposed to potentially deadly asbestos after local workers left it next to the Fly Camp settlement. Documents leaked to the ABC say refugees have been ‘using the asbestos to build sheds’. 

Sprent Dabwido, former President of Nauru, called for an end to the offshore processing of refugees and said he regrets agreeing to reopen Australia’s offshore detention centre on the island. Mr Dabwido has applied for asylum in Australia after being classified as an ‘enemy of the state’ by current Nauruan President Baron Waqa.

SBS News reported that a backlog in citizenship applications is taking a toll on refugees living in Australia who, among other things, cannot apply for passports until citizenship is conferred.

Weekly media wrap - 19 March 2019

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and members of the Coalition have continued to claim that refugees transferred to Australia for medical treatment under the medevac arrangements will equate to Australians losing out on medical services. In response, a number of health care associations and hospitals stated that the Australian system has the capacity to provide medical treatment to asylum seekers and refugees without impacting Australians. 

Hakeem Al-Araibi, Bahraini-born refugee and footballer, became an Australian citizen at a ceremony in Melbourne alongside over 200 new citizens. Following his two-and-a-half-month ordeal in a Thai prison from late 2018 where he was detained due to Bahrain’s extradition request, he returned to Australia in February and completed the citizenship test. 

The United Nations voiced its concern over a plan to relocate 23,000 Rohingya refugees currently in Bangladesh to a remote island. Bangladesh proposed the relocation due to the chronic overcrowding at Cox’s Bazar where approximately 730,000 Rohingya are currently taking shelter. Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee stated that the island of the proposed relocation may not even be habitable, and fears relocation could create a ‘new crisis’. 

Weekly media wrap - 11 March 2019

Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited Christmas Island following his announcement that the government will reopen its immigration detention facility in the remote external Australian territory. The government budgeted approximately $1.4 billion over the next four years to reopen the centre. 

Morrison announced that asylum seekers currently on Manus Island or Nauru who are deemed a risk to Australia will be sent to Christmas Island’s North West Point facility if they apply for medical transfer under the newly passed medical evacuation bill. This cohort includes 57 men, including those allegedly charged with murder, sexual and violent assaults and terrorist activities.

Government health contractor IHMS will employ an additional 60 medical practitioners on Christmas Island, including a general surgeon, an anaesthetist and 35 mental health professionals. The expanded team is designed to eliminate the need for any transfers to the Australian mainland.

Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton warned that asylum seekers brought to the mainland under the so-called medevac bill would likely go on to become Australian citizens, an outcome he argues is against the wishes of the Australian community. Morrison supported that assertion, further warning that these asylum seekers would need to be housed through their claims, resulting in Australian citizens missing out on public housing. 

UNHCR’s Catherine Stubberfield criticised the reopening of the Christmas Island facility, arguing that ill asylum seekers are ‘unlikely to recover in a remote, formal detention environment’.

Weekly media wrap - 2 March 2019

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton claimed that the newly passed medical transfer legislation would result in Australians missing out on healthcare as a result of the arrival of refugees in Australia for medical care. This claim received criticism, including from independent MP Kerryn Phelps, who said that about 70 people were likely to need emergency transfer. The so-called medevac bill was passed by Parliament earlier this month and given royal assent this week.

The Nauru government passed a new law that will ban telemedicine for residents of the island nation, which has led Médecins Sans Frontières to suspend its psychological services. Under the new law, overseas medical transfers will not be approved ‘on the recommendation of an overseas health practitioner by telemedicine examination or diagnosis’. Refugee advocates said that these new laws could effectively block medical evacuations at the request of Australia.

A list of jobs has been advertised on Christmas Island by International Medical Health Services (contracted by the Australian Government to provide care for people in immigration detention) in anticipation that a number of people will be transferred from offshore processing to Australia for medical reasons. The roles advertised include a mental health nurse, psychologist, clinical psychologist and nurse radiographer.

The last four refugee children departed Nauru this week, having been transferred to the US amongst a total of 19 people for resettlement. Another 22 men from Manus Island were also transferred to the US to be resettled under the arrangement made by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. 

An inquest was held this week into the death of the Iranian refugee Omid Masoumali, who was detained on Nauru for almost three years. The coroner, Terry Ryan, has been examining the health and medical evacuation services provided, and what could have been done to prevent the death.

Local employees of Paladin Security, contracted by the Australian Government for services to offshore processing centres on Manus Island, reportedly walked off the job this week over low pay and poor working conditions. The Guardian Australia was told that employees of the contracted health clinic for asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island, Pacific International Hospital, as well as cleaning staff and bus drivers, also walked off the job because they had no security.

Weekly media wrap - 25 February 2019

Home Affairs Secretary Michael Pezzullo revealed during Senate estimates that sick refugees and asylum seekers in offshore detention will be sent to Christmas Island, not the mainland, under new medevac laws. Shire of Christmas Island CEO David Price said the island is not equipped to deal with people sent there in poor health. Lawyers representing refugee advocacy organisations said they will launch legal challenges on medical transfers to the island. Meanwhile, the Nauruan government responded to the medevac laws by banning residents of Nauru from being granted medical transfers if the referral is based on online consultations. 

The federal government faced ongoing scrutiny for its decision to award contracts to provide security at the Manus Island detention centre, worth up to $423 million, to inexperienced contractor Paladin through a non-competitive tender process. The opposition asked the Auditor General to examine the contract, and the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Peter O’Neil, said he would welcome an investigation into the affair. Paladin Director Ian Stewart defended the company’s record and disputed claims of corruption.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reiterated her offer to resettle refugees from Nauru and Manus Island, including single men, during a visit by Prime Minister Scott Morrison to the country. Mr Morrison again rejected the offer. Opposition immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann said Labor will accept the offer if elected.

During Senate estimates, Australian Federal Police commissioner Andrew Colvin blamed a lack of information sharing from the Department of Home Affairs for the detention of refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi in Thailand.

Two sisters from Saudi Arabia who are trying to seek asylum in Australia said they have been stuck in Hong Kong for more than six months. The two women said they were prevented from boarding a connecting flight to Australia and were intercepted at the airport by diplomats from Saudi Arabia. The case is the second high-profile example this year of Saudi women seeking to escape their country.

Weekly media wrap - 16 February 2019

The medical evacuation bill passed through both houses of Parliament. This amendment to the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) will give doctors greater powers in deciding whether asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island and Nauru should be transferred to Australia for medical treatment. Ministerial discretion still applies to an extent. The passing of this bill, with the support of Labor, the Greens and various independents, was the first time a federal government has lost a vote on its own legislation in almost 80 years.

While the bill was being debated in the Senate, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced plans to reopen the Christmas Island detention centre and strengthen Operation Sovereign Borders. The Prime Minister claimed that these contingency measures are necessary due to what he predicts will be an increase in asylum seeker boats. Since the passing of the bill, The Guardian Australia and SBS News have provided information on how it may affect the situation for ill asylum seekers and refugees currently in offshore detention. 

Bahraini refugee Hakeem al-Araibi returned to Australia following his release from a Thai prison. The 25-year-old Australian football star was detained on his honeymoon in November 2018 by Thai authorities acting on the advice of an Interpol red notice and an extradition request from Bahrain. The extradition case was subsequently dropped by Thai authorities after Bahrain abandoned its request.

Abdul Aziz Muhamat, a Sudanese refugee detained on Manus Island, received a prestigious international human rights award in Geneva. The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders recognises people who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to human rights despite huge risks. Mr Muhamat received the award for his advocacy and awareness-raising of the dire conditions for detained refugees on Manus Island, including sending over 3500 mobile phone messages to a journalist to create a podcast. Mr Muhamat was granted a visa by Switzerland to fly to Geneva to accept the award, and will be returned to PNG promptly.

The High Court of Australia rejected a stateless man’s challenge to Australia’s indefinite detention system. Lawyers for the stateless man, who has spent over nine years in immigration detention in Australia, attempted to reopen the 2004 Al-Kateb v Godwin ruling, which effectively enabled indefinite detention in Australia.

Weekly media wrap - 14 February 2019

Independent MP Dr Kerryn Phelps put forward a bill proposing an amendment to the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) that establishes an independent medical advice panel for the transfer of asylum seekers and refugees from Papua New Guinea and Nauru. Government ministers oppose the Bill, saying that its passing would result in the transfer of one thousand people within weeks. The Bill is due for a vote next week.

The ABC’s Four Corners reported that a number of Saudi women have been prevented from reaching Australia by airline liaison officers (ALOs) stationed in airports in transit countries. The investigation followed the high-profile case of Rahaf Al-Qunun, a Saudi woman stranded in Bangkok and given protection in Canada. ALOs advise governments and airlines on whether to allow a person to board, in some cases refusing embarkation when they suspect a person will apply for asylum upon arrival in Australia.

Refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi appeared at an extradition hearing in Bangkok. Mr al-Araibi is a Bahrainian national granted refugee protection in Australia. Bahrain has requested his extradition from Thai authorities after he was arrested on holiday there.