Weekly media wrap - 24 August 2015

Inquiries into the Nauru detention centre dominated the week. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton continued to dismiss as “nonsense” allegations by an Australian whistleblower and ex-guard that a detainee at the Nauru detention centre was waterboarded, stating that he was ‘aware that there is legal action between Wilson and... a disgruntled employee and all these matters need to be put into context’.  

At a Senate committee hearing into allegations of abuse on Nauru, the whistleblower conceded that he had never seen the torture taking place. UNHCR regional representative Thomas Albrecht said that it was difficult to verify the claims because of the secrecy surrounding the centre's operations.

The Wilson Security guard who ordered up to eight guards at the Nauru detention center to spy on Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young while she was visiting the island has been called to appear before the Senate inquiry.

An asylum seeker allegedly raped at the Nauru detention centre was sent to Australia for treatment, three months after the alleged incident. Separately, an investigation undertaken by The Saturday Paper revealed a number of unreported incidents on Nauru, including the alleged rape and assault of refugees who have been resettled on the island.

On Manus Island, an asylum seeker on was forcibly returned to Iran notwithstanding an ongoing case challenging his detention in the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court.

A New Zealand parliamentary committee called for an increase to the country's refugee intake. New Zealand's current quota is 750 refugees per year, accepted through the UNHCR resettlement program.

Meanwhile, the UNHCR reported that the number of refugees and migrants who arrived in Greece last month was greater than the number for the whole of 2014. The influx has led to a stalemate at the Greek-Macedonian border, where over 2000 refugees are stranded after being stopped by police.

Read the Kaldor Centre's Weekly News Roundup.

Weekly media wrap - 17 August 2015

In Australia, a 21-year-old Afghan asylum seeker is expected to be deported to Afghanistan. His two younger brothers have been killed and father has gone missing in Afghanistan. The Afghan government has sought to curb the flow of forced returns from Australia and other countries, recently blocking the return of the asylum seeker.  

At the parliamentary inquiry examining abuse at the Nauru detention centre, a Wilson Security guard claimed that asylum seekers in the island’s detention centre were being subjected to torture techniques including water-boarding. Both Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton have rejected these claims, stating that they were unsubstantiated.

Legal proceedings began this week against the Commonwealth Government over the alleged negligence of a five-year-old Iranian asylum seeker at the Nauru detention centre. The young girl’s lawyer told the Northern Territory Supreme Court that she suffered significant mental injuries caused by a year spent in detention.

The family of a female Iranian asylum seeker, who was allegedly raped three months ago in Nauru, say the Federal Government has refused to allow her to be treated in Australia. A spokesperson for the Immigration Minister indicated that the woman concerned is receiving appropriate medical and mental health support and care in Nauru.

A whistleblower claimed Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young was filmed and photographed while on a visit to Nauru in 2013. Greens leader Richard DeNatale demanded Wilson Security be excluded from future contract tenders, and called for a federal policy investigation into the incident.

On Manus Island, Guardian Australia reported that refugees are being encouraged to resettle in Papua New Guinea, and are being told that if they do not cooperate they may be moved to Port Moresby and held in custody where conditions are worse.

In Europe, UNHCR expressed concern over the living conditions of an estimated 3000 refugees and migrants living in makeshift sites in Calais, on the northern coast of France. UNHCR highlighted the rising death toll among refugees and migrants attempting to cross the Channel into the United Kingdom.

Italy arrested five men accused of multiple murders and human trafficking following a shipwreck in early August, which left more than 200 people feared drowned. The vessel was believed to have had over 600 migrants onboard when it began the journey. 

Read the Kaldor Centre's Weekly News Roundup.

Weekly media wrap 10 August 2015

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton announced 20 boats carrying more than 630 asylum seekers have been turned back since December 2013, with the most recent incident being the confirmed return of 46 asylum seekers to Vietnam last month.

A statement from the commander of Operation Sovereign Borders indicated that border officials had assisted asylum seekers in May 2015 when they had turned back a distressed boat whose crew was allegedly paid to return to Indonesia.  The statement was provided to a parliamentary committee investigating whether cash or other inducements were paid for boat turn-backs.

The Australian government has reportedly removed an undisclosed number of Iranian asylum seekers on bridging visas from their communities and returned them to detention facilities. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection said it was working to resolve cases of ‘failed asylum seekers’ currently living in communities.

The Papua New Guinea government has ordered a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to alcohol and drugs among staff at the Manus Island immigration detention centre, including regular substance testing. This comes after the alleged rape of a local woman who worked at the centre. The Australian immigration department has maintained that the Australian operator of the centre upholds strict drug and alcohol policy.

The Australian Government is expected to soon make a decision on a five-year contract for running detention centres on both Nauru and Manus Island, the ABC reports Transfield and Serco are being considered.

In an interim report released this week, the Australian Law Reform Commission suggested that a range of federal laws be reviewed in light of their potential interference with “traditional freedoms”. This has included law that extend the Australian government’s powers over asylum seekers who arrive by boat. 

UNHCR officials visited Greece this week to assess the refugee crisis. The number of refugees and migrants arriving by sea has risen by 750% in one year in this country, with 50,000 new arrivals having been reported in the month of July 2015. 

Read the Kaldor Centre's Weekly News Roundup.

Weekly media wrap 3 August 2015

A male Afghan asylum seeker died in a West Australian detention centre during the week. The circumstances of his death are unclear. A spokesperson for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection said there was no indication of suspicious circumstances, though a fellow detainee said the man had been denied medical care.

A group of 46 Vietnamese asylum seekers were reportedly flown back to Vietnam. The asylum seekers reached the West Australian coast on 20 July 2015. The Australian Government refused to confirm the transfer or provide any information.

Asylum seekers on Manus Island whose claims have been rejected face imminent deportation according to documents obtained by the ABC. Australian authorities have not yet returned three former Manus Island Detention Centre workers to Papua New Guinea to face accusations of rape. Local police did not follow through on a threat to storm the detention centre and arrest its management if the men were not returned by Thursday evening.

Weekly media wrap 27 July 2015

At the Australian Labor Party (ALP) conference, a motion to prohibit asylum seeker boat turnbacks was defeated. Despite support for the motion from several senior Labor members, including deputy leader Tanya Plibersek, Labor will turn back boats to transit countries ‘where it is safe to do so’. A second motion, calling for the closure of offshore detention facilities that don't meet ‘humane and safe conditions’ was also defeated.

The ALP conference saw the announcement of Labor's new immigration policy, which includes the following elements: the abolishment of Temporary Protection Visas; the reinstatement of references to the UN Refugee Convention in the Migration Act; an increase of humanitarian visa places to 27,000 by 2025; a contribution of $450 million to UNHCR over three years; the implementation of independent oversight of detention facilities on Manus Island and Nauru; and the introduction of a children's monitor.

An ongoing senate inquiry investigating conditions at the detention centre on Nauru heard that, despite 30 child abuse allegations against detention staff, no charges have been laid. In a submission from Save the Children case workers, the inquiry heard that female detainees were denied easy access to sanitary products and women and children were often provided with ill-fitting clothing. 

A boatload of Vietnamese asylum seekers was intercepted and is being held off the coast of Western Australia. Vietnamese community leaders in Australia and asylum seeker advocates argued that the asylum seekers would risk imprisonment if returned to their home country. The federal government refused to comment.

Guardian Australia continued its investigation into International Health and Medical Services (IHMS), Australia's healthcare provider for asylum seekers in detention.  The Guardian cited leaked documents that highlight tension between the company's required standard of professional clinical care and its commercial interests.

Weekly media wrap 20 July 2015

Protests against the Border Force Act continued this week. In Sydney, doctors and other health professionals rallied on the steps of the Town Hall to protest against the secrecy provisions contained in the Act.

Information released by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to a Senate inquiry shows that asylum seekers are being held in Australian detention centres alongside non-asylum seeker detainees who have been convicted of serious criminal offences. Refugee advocates called for such detainees to be separated from those without convictions.

A report into conditions at the Manus Island detention centre released by Human Rights Watch and the Human Rights Law Centre said that "Australia's experiment in offshore detention has been a disaster." The report found that since the former Labor government announced that asylum seekers who arrived by boat would be resettled in Papua New Guinea after refugee status assessment on Manus Island in 2013, no asylum seekers have been resettled. However, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said that Papua New Guinea is "on track" to resettle asylum seekers whose refugee status has been confirmed.

UNHCR reported that over 10,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Yemen since March 2015. A representative from UNHCR Yemen said that many of these asylum seekers "are tricked into making the journey by people smugglers who tell them that the conflict is over and all is safe in Yemen."

Weekly media wrap 6 July 2015

This week the Border Force Act came into effect. The new legislation has been criticised for new rules providing that people working in the detention system can be jailed for two years for disclosing ‘protected information’. Over 40 doctors, teachers and humanitarian workers wrote an open letter challenging the Abbott Government to prosecute them for publicly discussing conditions in immigration detention centres. The World Medical Association also condemned the new laws. 

Roman Quaedvlieg was sworn in as Commissioner of the new Australian Border Force authority, the agency that merges frontline functions of the customs and immigration departments.  The Commissioner confirmed that detail on ‘operational matters’ of the agency would not be discussed publicly, but indicated that the laws would not override existing whistleblower protections.

On Nauru, a school within the detention centre is expected to close, with children aged seven to 17 to move to local schools. Concern has been raised about the child protection framework utilised by Nauruan schools and the risk of the children’s exposure to corporal punishment. 

An asylum seeker accused of sexually assaulting four girls at the Nauru detention centre has been moved into isolation along with his wife eight year-old daughter and, raising concern for the welfare of the child. The accused has been charged with sexual assault.

Across the detention network, workplace and safety incident documentation obtained by Fairfax media showed there were 449 incidents recorded between July 2013 and June 2014 for asylum seekers in detention centres as well as immigration workers and contractors in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

UNHCR reported 137,000 refugees and migrants crossed the Mediterranean in the first six months of 2015, compared with 75,000 in the same period in 2014. The majority of those taking the sea journey to Europe are refugees.

Read the Kaldor Centre's Weekly News Roundup

Weekly media wrap 29 June

The Australian government amended the Migration Act to fortify the legislation against an upcoming High Court challenge to offshore detention. The amendments passed with the support of the Labor Party.

Opposition MP Joel Fitzgibbon suggested the Labor Party should consider support for boat turn-backs. Following the suggestion, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton urged opposition leader Bill Shorten to clarify the Labor Party’s position. Asylum seeker policy is anticipated to be a significant discussion point at the Labor Party’s national conference in July. 

NSW Premier Mike Baird announced public transport travel concessions for asylum seekers, referring to them as ‘the most vulnerable (group) in our society.’

Several parties challenged the legitimacy of offshore detention during the week. The United Nations said that Papua New Guinea is breaking international law by restricting individuals’ freedom of movement. In a separate matter, several hundred detainees joined an existing legal challenge to their detention under the Papuan constitution. The Australian government reportedly transferred an infant from mainland detention to Nauru. If accurate, this would be the second infant transferred to Nauru this year. 

European Union leaders agreed to resettle 40,000 North African and Middle Eastern refugees. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi criticised fellow leaders for a lack of regional solidarity. Over 100,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year.

Read the Kaldor Centre's Weekly News Roundup

Weekly media wrap 22 June

The Australian government continued to refuse to confirm or deny allegations that immigration and border protection officials paid people smugglers to return asylum seekers to Indonesia. Despite suggestions that this alleged payment to people smugglers may have broken Australian and international law, Prime Minister Tony Abbott stated that he is ‘absolutely confident that at all times Australian agencies have acted within the law’.

Following an Indonesian police investigation, with reports that more than US$30,000 was paid to the smugglers, foreign minister Retno Marsudi requested clarification from the Australian government, stating that ‘in the context we cannot be blamed for believing that there was an illicit payment made on this issue’.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Tanya Plibersek, called for the government to provide a full explanation to Indonesia, arguing that ‘it is absolutely vital… to get this relationship back on track.  A Greens motion in the Senate to compel the government to hand over documents relating to these allegations was rejected on the grounds of national security.

Australia's peak health professional bodies released a joint statement calling for urgent amendments to the Australian Border Force Act 2015. The statement criticised the Act's secrecy provisions, which threaten up to two years imprisonment for sharing information about conditions at immigration detention centres. The statement says that the Act ‘actively restricts health professionals from fulfilling their duty to advocate for the best possible patient care’. 

The senate inquiry investigating conditions at the detention centre on Nauru heard from a former Save the Children case manager. The submission included reports of sexual assault and alleged that sexual encounters ‘had been filmed and circulated’ among security staff at the centre.

The UNHCR released an annual Global Trends Report: World at War, stating that displacement was at its highest level in recorded history, with 59.5 million people forcibly displaced at the end of 2014.

Read the Kaldor Centre's Weekly News Roundup

Weekly media wrap 15 June

Allegations have emerged that Australian immigration and border protection officials paid people smugglers to turn back boats from Indonesia carrying asylum seekers. The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, and the foreign minister, Julie Bishop, denied the allegations, however Prime Minister Tony Abbott has refused to deny them.

A senate inquiry into conditions in immigration detention on Nauru heard from former International Health and Medical Services mental health director, Peter Young, that the immigration department regularly interfered with medical assessments of asylum seekers. The inquiry also received written submissions from former Save the Children employee, Viktoria Vibhakar, detailing cases of sexual and physical abuse of asylum seekers’ children as young as two.

Meanwhile, the immigration department has confirmed Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young was spied on during her visit to Nauru by at least one Wilson Security officer.

In international news, the UNHCR has reported that the number of refugee and migrant arrivals to Europe across the Mediterranean in 2015 has reached more than 100,000.

Weekly media wrap 8 June

Cambodia received four asylum seekers from Australia transferred from Nauru as part of a Memorandum of Understanding that will see Cambodia receive $40 million over the next four years. Human Rights Watch said the deal will ‘have a harshly negative impact on protection of refugees throughout the region.’

The Nauruan government asked Australia for a specialist medical team to treat and 11-year old refugee with a badly broken arm. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection planned to send the boy to India for treatment. The Commonwealth and Immigration Ombudsman released a report which showed that asylum seekers, are spending nearly five years in Australian immigration detention.

The recently passed Australian Border Force Act provides that doctors and teachers working in immigration detention facilities could face up to two years in prison if they speak out against conditions in the centres or provide information to journalists. The Australian Medical Association, constitutional lawyers and Doctors for Refugees criticised the Act.

Australian authorities allegedly turned back a boat carrying 65 asylum seekers headed for New Zealand after it crashed into a reef in Indonesia. The asylum seekers have since been detained in West Timor, Indonesia.

Weekly media wrap 1 June

Asylum seekers on bridging visas, who arrived to Australia by boat after August 2012, began receiving letters this week offering them to apply for temporary protection visas. The Australian government has lifted a freeze on processing the claims of 'unauthorised maritime arrivals' who arrived from mid-2012, and has begun the use of fast-track processing.

A Senate committee heard that the Australian government spent $2.4 billion over two years maintaining offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island, Papua New Guinea.

The family of a five-year-old Iranian girl is suing the Commonwealth of Australia and minister for immigration for negligence, which allegedly led to the child's severe psychiatric symptoms. The family is seeking financial damages and an injunction preventing their return to Nauru. This week the immigration department decided to transfer the family to community detention in Brisbane. Nauruan police are investigating the sexual assault of an Iranian asylum seeker last week.

Five detainees were removed from the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre or placed in solitary arrangements after confronting facility guards. Another group of 23 detainees, including some asylum seekers, have been transferred to Christmas Island from the Maribyrnong centre in Melbourne.

 Victorian Supreme Court Justice Stephen Kaye criticised immigration officials for blocking court ordered access for lawyers representing asylum seekers on Christmas Island. The lawyers were denied access to a group of asylum seekers who are suing the Australian government for neglecting to provide them appropriate medical care. 

The European Union sought a commitment from its member states to admit 40,000 asylum seekers from Syria and Eritrea landing in Italy and Greece. 

Read the Kaldor Centre's Weekly News Roundup

Weekly media wrap 20 April

At least 800 people died in the Mediterranean Sea when a boat capsized off the coast of Libya. More than 7000 people were rescued from boats in a four day period over last weekend. In response, UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants François Crépeau called for a global humanitarian plan to resettle refugees and regulate migrant mobility.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop invited Iranian officials to visit Australia to continue discussions about taking back failed asylum seekers, after being unable to reach agreement during her recent visit to Tehran.

The West Australian reported Australia is transferring almost 50 Vietnamese asylum seekers back to Vietnam from a vessel that was intercepted north of Australia earlier this month. A spokesperson for immigration minister Peter Dutton said no comment would be made on ‘operational matters’. Human rights groups have criticised the government for returning the asylum seekers Vietnam, where they may face persecution.

The ABC reported that a fact sheet about life in Cambodia was distributed to refugees in Nauru, with expectations that the first transfer of refugees between the two countries will happen next week.

The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) put forward a submission disputing a migration amendment bill to allow immigration officers to use ‘reasonable force against any person’ if the officer believed it was exercised ‘in good faith’.

In Darwin, there was a disturbance at the Wickham Point detention centre, where a spokesperson from the Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network said he had been told there were 25 self-harm attempts. A spokesperson for Mr Dutton said reports from refugee advocacy groups were ‘wildly exaggerated and inaccurate’, but confirmed there had been a disturbance.

An Australian National Audit Office report has recommended that interpreters who are deployed to immigration detention centres should be given resilience training so that they can prepare for the “challenging and hazardous” conditions of the facilities.

Weekly media wrap - 13 April

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop will seek to persuade Iran to take back hundreds of failed asylum seekers held in Australian immigration detention when she visits Tehran next week. So far, Iran has refused to do so. Labor leader Bill Shorten said he will support the move, as long as Australia meets its obligations under international law. The Refugee Action Collective said Bishop was ‘playing with people’s lives’ by sending them back to Iran, where they may face persecution.

The Government announced it will make a telemovie designed to deter asylum seekers from coming to Australia by boat. The ABC’s Lateline reported that the drama is due to be broadcast later this year in countries like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. A spokesperson from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection said the ‘telemovie will realistically portray the journeys of people… and the challenges they face’. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the movie was part of an intensive effort by the Federal Government to end the people smuggling trade. Critics have opposed the drama, objecting to its cost and saying it would be unlikely to deter people from fleeing.

In Nauru, an asylum seeker who reported being sexually assaulted as part of the Moss Review says those who have made allegations of assaults have faced threats of harm from the perpetrators.

Transfield Services told their staff on Manus Island and Nauru detention centres that they can be fired for interacting with asylum seekers on social media, or being affiliated with a political, advocacy or religious groups opposed to Australia’s refugee policy.

On the mainland, an Iranian asylum seeker who has been on hunger strike for 44 days in Perth has begun accepting fluids.

Weekly media wrap - 26 January

Unrest on Manus Island ended last Tuesday. Staff at the centre reportedly prepared 14 men, who were thought to be leaders of the protest, to be sent to prison in Port Moresby. Australian and Papua New Guinean officials described the force used against protestors as minimal, although a video obtained by The Guardian suggests otherwise. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has rejected claims asylum seekers were denied food and water

Australia’s resettlement program in Cambodia is uncertain, as all but three of 200 refugees on Nauru refused to meet with Cambodian officials. Mr Dutton will travel to Cambodia to meet with officials for further talks on the resettlement program.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten criticised the culture of secrecy regarding the government’s release of information surrounding Manus Island. NSW Premier Mike Baird called on Prime Minister Abbott to “do more” to help refugees.

The UNHCR has announced plans to settle a number of Rohingya refugees in Thailand to the United States.

Weekly media wrap - 19 January

A week of protest and hunger strikes on Manus Island culminated in the storming of two compounds of the detention centre by Wilson guards.

On Tuesday 13 January, 100 asylum seekers went on hunger strike, protesting resettlement in Papua New Guinea (PNG) enabled by a bilateral with Australia.

By Wednesday 14 January, 500 asylum seekers were on hunger strike. On the same day, running water became unavailable  at the centre. 

On Friday 16 January the entire centre was placed in lockdown, preventing staff from entering the compounds. Australian immigration minister Peter Dutton stated it was his ‘absolute resolve’ to prevent asylum seekers arriving in Australia and accused advocates of coaching self-harm, a claim that was strongly denied. 

By Saturday 17 January, more than 100 asylum seekers were under medical care, most from dehydration. PNG’s immigration minister Rimbink Pato reported asylum seekers sewing their lips and swallowing razor blades and washing powder.

On Sunday 18 January, four asylum seekers were placed in solitary confinement as asylum seekers barricaded themselves inside Delta compound. Amid conflicting claims over conditions at the detention centre, opposition leader Bill Shorten called for transparency from the government. Mr Dutton said asylum seekers had engaged in ‘aggressive’ and ‘irresponsible behaviour’.

Meanwhile, Australian and Cambodian officials visited Nauru, to discuss the deal to resettle refugees in Cambodia.

In Australia, advocates for 15 Iranian asylum seekers detained indefinitely in Darwin wrote to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants requesting an investigation into their detention. 

Weekly media wrap - 8 December 2014

The government reintroduced temporary protection visas after it received support from the Palmer United Party (PUP) and Ricky Muir of the Motoring Enthusiast Party. Immigration minister Scott Morrison announced a number of concessions to bring crossbenchers across the line.

These concessions include the increase of refugee and humanitarian intake by 7500 places to 20,000, subject to Senate approval. The package also includes further details about the safe haven enterprise visa, which would allow asylum seekers to work or study in certain regional areas. The visa aims to provide a “pathway” to permanent residency. Critics claim the bill strips the right of appeal and gives the government greater powers to detain and remove asylum seekers at sea.  

Mr Morrison also announced the removal of all children from Christmas Island detention centre before Christmas. However, the release of these children will be under new ‘fast-track’ assessments, which remove appeal rights. The United Nations Committee Against Torture warned the bill could mean asylum seekers, including children, would be forced back to the countries they’d fled to face torture.

Four asylum seekers on Manus Island sewed their lips together in protest at being held on the island for more than a year. A letter obtained by Guardian Australia says that protesters claim they suffer catastrophic conditions and are treated like slaves. Two hundred and fifty asylum seekers are undertaking a hunger strike about being held in detention without any guarantee about their futures.

A three-day standoff by two pregnant refugees who refused to get off a bus ended with the women being taken inside a Northern Territory detention centre.

Police intervened in the deportation of an Iranian asylum seeker accused of rape to obtain a criminal justice visa. The man’s lawyer says he deserves the opportunity to clear his name in court and will contest the charge.

Weekly media wrap - 1 September 2014

The Abbott Government will attempt to win the support of Senate crossbenchers to reintroduce Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs). Labor and the Greens do not support the change in policy. 

In Papua New Guinea, a 24 year-old asylum seeker was transferred from Manus Island to Port Moresby with in a serious infection. Meanwhile, an asylum seeker lost his legal battle to prevent deportation back to Afghanistan. He will fly back to his home region of Jaghori on Tuesday.

Coalition government backbencher Andrew Broad came out in support of work rights for asylum seekers, while Western Downs mayor Ray Brown thanked a group of Tamil asylum seekers (who arrived before 2012) for taking jobs that locals were unwilling to fill, including cleaning up garbage dumps and rubbish from roadsides.

A Fairfax investigation claimed that the government’s failed attempt to return 157 asylum seekers to India cost the taxpayer over $12 million dollars, including the running cost of HMAS Perth, chartered flights from Cocos Islands, and costs associated with the legal challenge. Human Rights Watch described the cost as ‘outrageous and unnecessary’.

Law firm Maurice Blackburn launched a class action against the government on behalf of detainees injured while detained on Christmas Island over the past three years. A pop up ‘embassy’ highlighting the lack of diplomatic representation for refugees and asylum seekers appeared outside the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

Weekly media round-up No. 52

Papa New Guinean police charged two men with murder for the death of Reza Barati on Manus Island, with the search continuing for three more people believed to be involved. Two of the suspects who have not yet been located are said to be expatriates, however the Australian Federal Police indicated they have not received any requests from their PNG counterparts to investigate.

Immigration minister Scott Morrison claimed that detaining asylum seeker children was a ‘consequence’ of offshore processing policy at the Australian Human Right Commission’s inquiry into children in detention. Mr Morrison stated at the inquiry that children in detention who arrived after 19 July 2013 could not be released into the community without a temporary protection visa. This follows the government’s announcement children under ten and their families will be released into the community on bridging visas.

The Age reported a mental health ‘crisis’ at the Christmas Island detention centre, with one staff member attempting suicide and another a risk of self-harm. The Guardian Australia revealed strategies employed by the immigration department to return asylum seekers from Syria back to the country.

Refugee advocates challenged the legality of the government’s month-long detention of 157 Tamil asylum seekers on a customs vessel, with a court hearing set for October, possibly including United Nations involvement. Meanwhile, the Cambodian opposition leader disclosed the Australian Government’s plan to resettle refugees on a remote island off the coast of Cambodia.

A boat carrying 200 migrants sank off the coast of Libya, with majority of the passengers feared dead.

Weekly media round-up No. 51

Earlier this week the High Court held a hearing regarding the 157 Tamil asylum seekers held for several weeks in an Australian customs vessel in July. A High Court judge said the case would determine the Australian Government’s power to detain asylum seekers on the high seas.

The Australian Government set aside 4400 places within the existing refugee program for Syrian and Iraqi refugees. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said the success of Operation Sovereign Borders ‘allowed more places to be returned to our humanitarian program.’

Fairfax media reported that Australia will enter into an agreement with Cambodia to the resettle asylum seekers currently held in offshore detention. A Cambodian official said Mr Morrison would visit Phnom Penh to discuss the agreement within days.

A group of anonymous Save the Children workers from Nauru submitted a report to a national inquiry into children in detention. The report described systematic human rights violations and incidents of physical, sexual and verbal abuse. Mr Morrison will give evidence at the inquiry later this week.