Monthly Wrap March 2025

In the media

In the community

A national poll of over 1,500 Australian voters showed majority support for asylum seekers to be given more rights while their claims are being assessed. The Refugee Council of Australia confirmed 2025’s Refugee Week theme will be Finding Freedom: Diversity in Community.

In Nauru

The government announced that Nauru will grant 30-year visas to 3 people who were released under the NZYQ High Court determination, but it refused to disclose how much Nauru was paid. The deal was immediately challenged in court. The Australian Human Rights Commissioner raised concerns about the deal. 

In detention

The government revealed that the number of Indonesian boat crew who were wrongfully detained on the basis of being adults is probably double that which they previously estimated. Serco immigration detention centre staff commenced strike action over the policy to refuse redundancy payments for anyone who accepts jobs with the new detention contractor.

International

The UNHCR published the 2024 Impact Report, a summary of the major crises that the agency was engaged in. It also marked the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with an explainer on the situation of displaced people and the assistance offered. Thailand forcibly returned 48 Uighur people to China despite sustained lobbying from the UNHCR that it would constitute a breach of non-refoulement conventions. As the number of Congolese fleeing intense conflict in the country’s east surged, Burundi agreed to provide them refugee status on a prima facie basis. President Trump announced that white South African farmers would be eligible for asylum in the USA, but the offer was not widely welcomed there.

In policy

The Saturday Paper reported on how Australia’s policy of denying tertiary study rights to asylum seekers impacts on people who arrived by boat as minors.

In research

The latest edition of the Journal of Refugee Studies aims to bring refugee law and refugee studies closer in sync with each other in the world of research. The UNSW Kaldor Centre published two toolkits; on countering misinformation, and on protection in climate disasters.

New releases and events

Life on the Migrant Barge, a documentary by Aljazeera English 

No Other Land, a Palestinian film about the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, won Best Documentary Feature film at the Oscars

Monthly Wrap Feb 2025

In the media

Onshore detention

The Human Rights Commissioner detailed the serious consequences for women from a detention system that was designed for men. Staff at Serco, who recently lost the onshore detention contract, were advised that they would not be eligible for redundancy payments if they took up jobs at the new detention contractor, Secure Journeys. The ACCC brought price-fixing proceedings against one of the subcontractors to the new detention contractor.

Boat interceptions and offshore processing

News Corp reported that over 21,581 partner visas were issued to spouses of people who arrived by boat, when the actual figure was over 2,158. The incorrect information was repeated by other news outlets and politicians. A group of Bangladeshi men on Indonesia’s southern-most island claimed that ABF intercepted them at sea and held them on a ship for two weeks before sending them back to Indonesia. A person who previously worked on people smuggling boats explained the journey people took from China to Australia.  

International

Over 500,000 people have returned to Syria since September 2024, prompting the UN to call for states to assist the country’s rebuilding effort. Following the collapse of the Assad regime, some European countries suspended the processing of asylum applications from Syrians. On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, survivors urged younger generations to be alert to the dangers of intolerant attitudes to people who are different. Bulgarian border police have been accused of blocking assistance to 3 teenage asylum seekers who had become lost, and subsequently died in the winter cold. The Trump administration cancelled the Afghan resettlement program, which has left around 10,000 people in limbo even though they were already approved for resettlement due to their work with US forces. The UK government’s efforts to clear the asylum processing backlog has inadvertently contributed to a rise in homelessness as people lose their eligibility for state-supported accommodation when their asylum application has been decided.   

In policy

The UN Human Rights Committee concluded that Australia contravened its human rights obligations when it detained teenagers on Nauru. The implications of the case were detailed by Associate Professor Sarah Moulds.  

In research

The Scanlon Foundation Research Institute is calling for people with refugee experience to contribute to their study on settling in Australia.

Monthly Wrap Dec 2024

In the media

In community and locked detention

Serco lost the contract for immigration detention in Australia, a role they have played since 2009. The new contractor has not yet been announced. A human rights lawyer told the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Australia’s detention centres are prisons where people are often detained unlawfully. The High Court ruled that it is unlawful to impose curfews and ankle bracelets on people who are moved into the community. Additional High Court cases are underway as to the lawfulness of detaining people while their protection applications are being assessed.

Boat arrivals

Indigenous rangers have criticised the rapid response of Border Force to boats carrying asylum seekers compared to the absence of response when they report illegal fishing in the area. After assisting four men recently, they demanded assurance from authorities that the men would be cared for.

International

As the ongoing conflict in Sudan has caused the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, the UN World Food Program detailed the scale of the famine threat and the complexity of delivering food aid. The UNHCR recognised Thailand as leading the world in their efforts to end statelessness. Italian Courts blocked the transfer of asylum seekers to Albania on the basis that EU law only permits the accelerated removal of people where they have come from countries considered safe. As President-elect Trump promised mass deportations of asylum seekers and illegal migrants, businesses working in detention and prison services expect to profit from the policy.

In policy

The government ended the parliamentary year by introducing legislation that will enable (i) Australia to pay a third country to receive failed asylum seekers, (ii) the re-detention of people who were released due to the NZYQ High Court ruling, and (iii) the Minister to declare any item (e.g. a mobile phone) to be prohibited in detention. A Senate inquiry heard that up to 80,000 people could be affected by the proposed removal powers. A bipartisan Parliamentary committee found that the re-detention legislation could impact on people’s human rights on multiple levels. The Coalition asserted that they are basically running the government’s immigration policy.

In research

The largest known study into the prevalence of mental health ill-health among people who spent time in Australian immigration detention found it was profound. On PTSD they were at 16-22 times more risk than the general population, the rate depended on whether their detention was onshore or offshore and whether it was above or below six months duration.

The Human Rights Law Centre and the University of Melbourne analysed the increase in visa cancellations and its effect on immigration detention and deportation.  The Refugee Council of Australia published evaluation findings of a decade of their Refugee Stories for Change program.

New releases and events

70th anniversary of the Convention on Statelessness, a webinar by the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness on 12 December 2024.

Monthly Wrap July 2024

In the media

In the community

A successful pilot program, Talent Beyond Boundaries, that has facilitated the settlement of around 500 skilled refugees in Australia aims to become a global program. Sister Jane Keogh was awarded an AM for her work advocating for better treatment of refugees in Australia. A refugee, who fled his country of origin because his sexuality made him a target for abuse, was beaten in what he believes was a homophobic attack in Sydney. Refugee Week was celebrated with a range of events and productions around Australia.  

Global displacement

ABC’s Big Ideas broadcast a panel discussion on global displacement and the extent to which governments try to restrict the entry of people who have been displaced by persecution, war and environmental disasters. The UNHCR forecasts that the number of people in their refugee resettlement program will reach 3 million people next year.

In Nauru and at sea

With forcible transfers to Nauru on the increase, Guardian Australia published a story on their options and the future of Australia’s operations there. Meanwhile the Department of Home Affairs confirmed the purchase of four unmanned aircraft to increase Australia’s maritime surveillance capacity.

International

The Israeli Defence Force bombed an UNRWA site killing 8 people. The European Court of Justice fined Hungary €200 million for failing to comply with the EU’s asylum laws. Rwanda accused the UNHCR of lying when it claimed that people sent to Rwanda by the UK risked being forcibly sent to places where they could face persecution.

In policy

The ABC reported that, by failing to include its controversial immigration legislation in the final sitting week before the winter break, the government appears to have abandoned the policy. The Commonwealth Ombudsman published an annual report (for the 2023 financial year) into the situation where the government detained people on the basis that they were unlawful non-citizens, but then later found that they did indeed have a lawful right to be in Australia. The Iranian government expressed interest in negotiating an extradition treaty with Australia that could pave the way for people being involuntarily returned to Iran.

In research

Ipsos research into people’s attitudes towards refugees found that Middle Eastern, African and Latin American countries were the most open to taking in more refugees. The Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness issued a call for papers for their 2025 Doctoral Workshop.

New releases

Flavours of Hope, a free online cookbook published by Australia for UNHCR. 

Monthly Wrap April 2024

In the media

NZYQ High Court decision

In the wake of the High Court’s determination that indefinite detention is unlawful, lawyers believe that the government is settling cases out of court in order to prevent the lawfulness of curfews and ankle bracelets being tested in court. The AFP mistakenly arrested an Iraqi refugee based on incorrect information. This follows last month’s wrongful arrest, by Victoria Police, of a former immigration detainee in Melbourne.

Detention

Guardian Australia revealed that Serco, the contractor that runs immigration detention, uses a software program to determine the risk rating of detainees. The risk rating is used to decide how a person is managed in detention and has been found to have frequently been based on erroneous information.

Nauru and PNG

The coronial inquest into the death of Faysal Ishak, on Manus Island in 2016, heard how he was repeatedly dismissed by the contracted medical provider, IHMS, in the weeks leading up to his death. Hundreds of refugees, who were subjected to offshore processing, have passed 5 years since they were placed on rolling 6-month bridging visas.

Community

Hazara women in Shepparton have established the first Afghan-based Rural Australians for Refugees group in Australia. Despite Australia’s persistent skill shortage challenge, skilled refugees still find it difficult to secure work in their field of expertise.

International

According to the latest Missing Migrants Project report, more than 63,000 people died or disappeared on migration routes in the last ten years. The majority drowned. The UNHCR reported a 20% jump in philanthropic support for refugees from Islamic communities in 2023. Around 70 Rohingya people are feared drowned after their boat capsized off Indonesia. The UNHCR published new guidance on international protection for people fleeing Haiti.

In policy

The government rushed through legislation that criminalises a failure to cooperate in the deportation process, but the legislation has not yet passed the Senate. The legislation expands the Immigration Minister’s power and was passed through the lower house without any opportunity for debate.

New releases

Statelessness in Asia, edited by Michelle Foster, Jaclyn Neo and Christoph Sperfeldt, published by Cambridge University Press