In the media
Detention
Over the month of March a total of around 30 refugees were released from onshore immigration detention. In Villawood Detention Centre an asylum seeker was found dead in his room. He had reportedly hardly left his room in the two weeks prior. Doctors expressed concern for the deteriorating health of refugees in indefinite detention in Perth.
Nauru and PNG
The government accepted New Zealand’s long-standing offer to resettle refugees who were sent offshore. The announcement prompted Senator Lambie to disclose her 2019 deal with the government in return for her vote to repeal the medevac legislation. Advocates called on the government to terminate the offshore operations contract with Canstruct.
In court
An Afghan family has sued the Australian government for taking years to assess their family refugee reunion application.
Ukraine
In response to the fact that around 10% of the Ukrainian population has now fled the country, the government announced humanitarian visas for Ukrainians in Australia. A British government website enabling people to offer spare rooms to Ukranian refugees crashed due to overwhelming response. Applicants complained that the program registration process is overly bureaucratic. One of the poorest European nations, Moldova, has welcomed more than 300,000 Ukrainians. An Afghan family that was evacuated from Kabul to Ukraine was again forced to flee due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In the community
Afghan evacuees were given a 7-day deadline to submit their refugee applications. Defectors of the Myanmar military were given refugee protection in Australia.
International
The number of Nicaraguan refugees in Costa Rica has surged in the last year. Around 10,000 people fled into Uganda after violence erupted in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The UNHCR outlined the extreme poverty faced by Syrian refugees in Lebanon and surrounding countries. A Syrian refugee sued the EU’s border agency on the basis that his forcible return to Turkey constituted refoulement. A Palestinian Psychiatrist used his experience helping refugees in Greece to establish a program that makes psychiatric care central to humanitarian responses. The UK government is pushing ahead with its plans to establish offshore refugee centres akin to Australia’s policy.
In policy
The Refugee Council of Australia published an analysis of the federal budget as it pertains to asylum seekers and refugees. Of more than 13,000 refugees who were granted Safe Haven visas, as a pathway to permanent residency, it appears only one has secured residency. Analysts have contrasted Australia’s response to the plight of Ukrainians to that of the situation faced by Afghans. Refugees who were resettled to the USA, from Australia, spoke about the impact their treatment by the Australian government has had on them. As the federal election approaches, the UNSW Kaldor Centre updated its policy document on the improvements needed to Australia’s refugee policy.
In research
A collaborative study into moral injury among refugees who were detained in Nauru revealed a sense of hopelessness and a loss of dignity as common consequences of their experience. Volume 41 of the Oxford University’s Refugee Survey Quarterly was published in March.
New releases
A new series of free lunch time webinars was launched by the Refugee Council of Australia.