Weekly media wrap 25 May

Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to resettle several thousand Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees. Thus far 3600 refugees have come ashore in the three nations. Naval vessels from Myanmar and Malaysia will be joined by the US navy in the ongoing search for the estimated 3000 refugees who remain at sea. Despite calls for Australia to more robustly address the crisis, Australia remains opposed to providing assistance. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Indonesian officials told her that the refugees are mostly ‘illegal labourers’.

A Senate hearing received testimony that security guards and service providers sexually abused refugees in the Nauru detention centre.

The Cambodia Government approved transfer of four asylum seekers from Nauru. This is the first transfer associated with the $40 million tied aid grant provided to Cambodia last year.

Police discovered several mass graves of suspected migrants near the border of Malaysia and Thailand.  The graves are believed to be linked to human trafficking operations.

An EU plan to distribute migrants across Europe on the basis of national capacity has been criticised by several Western European nations. The plan appears unlikely to gain the support necessary for implementation.

Weeky media wrap - 18 May

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton confirmed that the first group of refugees is in the process of being transferred from Nauru for resettlement in Cambodia. The transfers follow the announcement in September 2014 of a deal under which asylum seekers in detention on Nauru can volunteer to be resettled in Cambodia.

As part of the 2015 Federal Budget, the Abbott government allocated $400 million to the creation of a dedicated new border enforcement agency called Australian Border Force. Up to 6000 officers will be hired by the Australian Border Force within two years.

The Asylum Seeker Assistance Scheme will also receive $21 million over the coming financial year. The funding will be partially offset by not renewing the grant funding of $140,000 per year to the Refugee Council of Australia. The budget also allocated $39.9 million to ‘anti-people smuggling strategic communications campaigns’.

A three-member panel was established by the Australian government to provide advice on child protection inside Australian detention centres on both the mainland and in offshore facilities. The establishment of the panel follows the final report released by the Moss Review, which found evidence of rape and sexual assault of minors.

A group of ten asylum seekers initiated proceedings in the High Court of Australia, challenging the legality of offshore detention. The Human Rights Law Centre represents the group.

Around 6,000 Rohingya asylum seekers and Bangladeshi migrants are adrift in boats in the Andaman Sea. The Rohingya are a Muslim minority in Myanmar who face statelessness and discrimination. Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia refused to accept the boats, though some migrants have been rescued in  Aceh. The United Nations warned the situation may become a 'massive humanitarian crisis'. The United States urged regional countries to refrain from pushbacks. Australian prime minister Tony Abbott said he was 'in no way critical' of regional countries turning back boats.

Meanwhile in Europe, the European Commission unveiled a plan to bring 20,000 refugees to Europe in the next two years.

Weekly media wrap - 11 May

Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced there would be a $504 million saving in the coming financial year from Operation Sovereign Borders, which will include the closure of detention centres, reduction in charter flights and logistical and service changes.

Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, confirmed that Australia had worked with the Vietnamese government to return 46 asylum seekers intercepted at sea. Minister Dutton said that the asylum seekers were ‘safely returned to Vietnam after we were assured that they did not have a claim to protection and that we had met our international obligations’. Human rights groups criticised the process of assessing the claims.

Minister Dutton announced that the arrival of refugees from Nauru to Phnom Penh, Cambodia was imminent.

A United Nations Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture completed a three-day visit to Nauru, where they inspected the processing centre and local detention facilities. The Subcommittee called for greater transparency on conditions and systems governing the centre.

Prime Minister Abbott suggested that Australia was in talks with European Union officials, who were interested in the country’s asylum policy. However a European Commission spokeswoman, Natasha Bertaud, denied seeking Australia’s advice, stating that the Australian model was not of interest because of its refoulement principle.

Weekly media wrap - 4 May

Four refugees are the first to accept the Australian government’s Cambodian resettlement offer. The ‘Cambodia deal’ continues to face criticism from human rights groups because of the ‘poor quality’ of the country’s medical and health services, and the risks of crime.

An annual poll on attitudes towards national identity, conducted by the Australian National University, found that 65% of Australians support stronger measures to exclude 'illegal immigrants'.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee found that Australia was in breach of the international convention on civil and political rights (ICCPR) after deporting an Iranian citizen on undisclosed national security grounds.

The Lowy Institute for International Policy released a research paper arguing that the 1951 Refugee Convention needs to be reinterpreted, with Australia well-placed to lead the effort. The report stated that 'reform should include greater accountability for those states that cause displacement', arguing that governments currently place too much emphasis on symptoms, rather than causes.

Nauruan opposition MP Mathew Batsiua reported that access to Facebook and other social media sites had been blocked in Nauru 'under the guise of a crackdown on online pornography'. Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul commented that for many asylum seekers and refugees on the island, Facebook is their primary connection to family and community. The Nauruan government denied actively blocking access to Facebook, but acknowledged that some social media sites may have been shut down as an indirect result of the pornography ban.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released a report on migrant smuggling in Asia. Warning of a significant threat to the region, the report found that criminal smuggling groups generate $2 billion annually, and lead to an increasing number of deaths and human rights abuses.

Following the death of 800 asylum seekers in the Mediterranean, the United Kingdom withdrew support for future search and rescue operations, arguing that such operations encourage 'more migrants to attempt the dangerous sea crossing… leading to more tragic and unnecessary deaths'.

Weekly media wrap - 6 April

Tens of thousands of people marched in capital cities across on Australia on Palm Sunday to protest Australia’s asylum seeker policies and treatment of asylum seekers. The rally in Melbourne drew an estimated 15,000 people.

Immigration detention centres across Australia are on heightened alert in response to a rise in self-harm incidents. Up to eight detainees at Darwin’s Wickham Point immigration detention centre self-harmed in the past two weeks, while an Iranian asylum is reported to be in a critical condition at the Royal Perth hospital after refusing food for 38 days in protest against the rejection of his claim for asylum.

Immigration minister Peter Dutton announced that Major General Andrew Bottrell has been appointed to head Operation Sovereign Borders. Minister Dutton and Major General Bottrell visited the Manus Island detention centre on Monday.

Fawad Ahmed, a Pakistani-born legspinner became the first asylum seeker to be named in the Australian test cricket squad.

Weekly media wrap - 30 March

Discussion surrounding the Moss Review into conditions at the Regional Processing Centre on Nauru continued. Among other things, leaked interview transcripts showed evidence used to remove 10 Save the Children staff from Nauru was not conclusive.

New laws passed the Senate under which asylum seekers will have to prove their identity to secure protection visas.

International aid agencies in Cambodia refused to participate in the Government’s planned deal to provide $40 million in development aid in exchange for a refugee resettlement deal. It came as the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding to guide resettlement of refugees in Cambodia.

Fifteen asylum seekers – including nine with UNHCR letters stating their refugee status – said they spent three days on Christmas Island before being told to sail back to Indonesia on their fishing boats by Australian authorities.

The winning design for Immigration Place in Canberra was announced – an undulating public artwork reminiscent of waves on the ocean.

Weekly media wrap - 23 March

The Moss Review, established in October 2014 by the then Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, was released on Friday. The review, by former Integrity Commissioner Philip Moss, investigated two separate claims relating to the Regional Processing Centre in Nauru. The review heard evidence of rape and sexual assault, finding that many detainees on Nauru were concerned about their safety and privacy in the centre. The review also found no evidence to substantiate the allegations that Save the Children employees had encouraged protests or acts of self-harm.

The Moss Review published 19 recommendations, including a review of the dismissal of the Save the Children employees. The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton stated that the department had accepted and responded to all 19 recommendations. Save the Children CEO, Paul Ronalds, responded by agreeing to work with the government on a review of the dismissal.  He also called on the government to immediately end its practice of mandatory and prolonged detention.  Prime Minister Tony Abbott was criticised for his response to the Moss Review, following an interview on talkback radio station 2GB.

Former Nauru Chief Justice Geoffrey Eames criticised the Nauruan government, expressing concern about the health and safety of asylum seekers and refugees on the island  

Refugees who have been settled on Nauru spoke out about their lives on the island.  In a series of covert interviews, the refugees, who have been settled on five year visas, reported mental health problems and sexual and physical violence.

 The Italian home affairs ministry released a planning paper, suggesting that Egyptian and Tunisian naval units play a role in rescuing asylum boats off the coast of Libya.  According to this plan, Egyptian and Tunisian operations should be supported, technically and financially, by the European Union.  

Weekly media wrap - 9 March

Media reported that ten wooden boats were bought by the Customs and Border Protection Department to tow back asylum seeker boats in Australian waters. The boats, which look like fishing boats typically used in South Asia, are believed to be a cheaper alternative to the orange lifeboat vessels that the Australian government has been using.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has requested the Australian Federal Police investigate Save the Children whistleblowers who provided anonymous submissions to the Australian Human Rights Commission inquiry into children in detention, which referenced child sexual abuse, violence and self-harm on Nauru. A Greens-led motion was passed in the Senate expressing support for Professor Gillian Triggs and the Human Rights Commission and its delivery of the Forgotten Children report.

Almost 200 refugees were arrested on Nauru for protesting against their resettlement on the island and demanding better living conditions. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton stated that refugees' protests would have no influence on the Abbott government's policies. Nauru’s Justice Minister, David Adeang, described the protests as a ‘law and order issue’ that would be dealt with according to Nauru’s laws.

A student staged a protest on a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Darwin over the transfer of a Tamil asylum seeker on board, fearing deportation would occur once the plane arrived in Darwin. The student has been temporarily banned from the airline and asked to attend an interview with the Australian Federal Police.  

In a speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama criticised Australia's policy approach of resettling asylum seekers in the Pacific and sought greater scrutiny of the implementation of policy and practice. 

Weekly media wrap - 2 March

The Abbott Government continues to defend its criticism of Professor Gillian Triggs. Described by some as an 'attack', the Government accused Triggs, the President of the Human Rights Commission which produced The Forgotten Children report into children in detention, of harbouring political bias due to the timing of the report. The advocacy group Grandmothers Against Detention of Refugee Children rallied in Melbourne in support of Professor Triggs.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton confirmed that the Bladin Alternative Place of Detention in Darwin will close in April 2015. The Coalition Government has attributed the closure to its ability to stop the arrival of asylum seeker carrying boats and the success of Operation Sovereign Borders.

According to reports in The Guardian, the trial of the two men accused of murdering asylum seeker Reza Barati in a riot on Manus Island on 17 February 2014 will soon begin. Asylum seekers on Manus Island have been asked to give evidence and are reportedly nervous about their safety if they testify.

Amnesty International has called on Australia to do more to help the millions of refugees fleeing violence in Syria and Afghanistan, including increasing Australia’s humanitarian intake. Amnesty also released its annual report in which it condemned the Australian Government for its offshore processing policies and the continuing detention.

 Meanwhile, the Obama administration is pushing to increase the number of Syrian refugees settled in the United States, but is facing resistance from Republicans concerned about security screening of refugees.

Weekly media wrap - 23 February

The Federal Government announced that four Sri Lankan asylum seekers were handed over to Sri Lankan authorities earlier this month. The men were determined not to be refugees after their boat was intercepted off the coast of the Cocos Islands. This interception is the first occurrence of on-water processing and transfer since the High Court ruled in January that offshore operations such as this are legal. Critics expressed concern about interceptions at sea and the quality of screening processes being undertaken when on water.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton visited Nauru to reaffirm the Australian Government’s bilateral agreement with the island nation to resettle Australian-bound refugees. Formal visit proceedings were disrupted by refugees protesting Australian asylum policy. Minister Dutton announced an open centre arrangement where selected asylum seekers would have more flexibility in coming and going from the Nauru detention centre within agreed times. Minister Dutton confirmed that 512 asylum seekers have been granted refugee status and 400 had been resettled in Nauru.

The anniversary of the death of Iranian Reza Barati was acknowledged and remembered on social media by thousands. Barati was killed one year ago on Manus Island during the rioting in the immigration detention centre.

An open letter to the Prime Minister Tony Abbott, signed by 50 prominent Australians, expressed support for the Human Rights Commission’s Forgotten Children report and concern about the personal attacks on the Commission's President Gillian Triggs.

More than 2,100 migrants were rescued 160kms off the coast of Italian island Lampedusa by Italian and Maltese rescue vessels. 

Weekly media wrap - 16 February

The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) called for a Royal Commission into the policy of holding children in immigration detention, following the government’s release of its The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention report. The report found more than a third of children in detention in the first half of 2014 had serious mental health disorders. It found more than 300 children committed or threatened self-harm in a 15-month period, 30 reported sexual assault, nearly 30 went on hunger strike and more than 200 were involved in assaults.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott criticised the report as ‘a blatantly partisan politicised exercise’, questioning ‘where was the Human Rights commission when hundreds of people were drowning at sea?’ Professor Triggs said she made the decision to hold the inquiry last February because the release of children had slowed down over the first six months of the new Coalition Government.  

The government announced there would not be a Royal Commission into children in detention.

 More than 200 Australian organisations (including Asylum Insight) signed a letter calling on parliament to stop holding children in immigration detention.

Meanwhile, it emerged through Fairfax media that the government had sought the resignation of AHRC president, Professor Gillian Triggs.

The High Court ordered that the Immigration Minister grant a permanent protection visa to a Pakistani refugee. It unanimously found the decision by former Immigration Minister Scott Morrison not to grant the visa on national interest grounds because the man was an unauthorised maritime arrival was illegal.

Around 300 people were feared drowned after four people-smuggling boats sank in the Mediterranean. Twenty-nine people died of hypothermia aboard Italian coastguard vessels after being picked up from a boat adrift near Libya. 

Weekly media wrap - 9 February

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres responded to the High Court’s judgment of the Tamil asylum seeker known as  ‘CPCF’, decided on 28 January 2015.  Despite the judgement that Australian authorities acted lawfully according to Australian law, UNHCR urged Australia to recognise its international legal obligations.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser criticised the government for its attacks on the Australian Human Rights Commission in the lead up to the 2014 release of the Commission's report from the Inquiry into Children in Detention.

Senate Estimate documents showed that during the last financial year the Federal Government spent over $1.2 billion on the operation of detention centres on Manus Island, Nauru and Christmas Island.

Human rights lawyer Julian Burnside QC announced that he will represent an Iranian asylum seeker in an appeal after his application for refugee status was rejected.  The 33 year old detainee of Wickham Point detention centre has been on a hunger strike since his appeal was rejected late last year.

In international news, Guterres urged the European Union to grant asylum to more refugees, with 50 million people currently displaced globally, creating the largest refugee crisis worldwide since World War II.

Weekly media wrap – 1 February

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton announced that a total of 15 boats containing 429 asylum seekers have been turned back since the commencement of Operation Sovereign Borders.

A group of eight former Australians of the Year used Australia Day celebrations to call for the immediate release of all refugee and asylum seeker children from immigration detention. On the same day, further arrests were made in detention compounds on Manus Island as protests continued.

The High Court handed down a judgment that Australian authorities acted legally when they intercepted a boat from India carrying 157 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers in June 2014. The asylum seekers were detained on an Australian customs vessel for 29 days until they were brought to the Australian mainland and then transferred to Nauru. The Court found that Australian authorities had acted within the bounds of the Maritime Powers Act.

Minister Dutton said that the ruling ‘has vindicated the Government's position’. However, others have written that the decision raises concerns about the rights of asylum seekers who are detained at sea.

In international news, Kuwaiti philanthropist Shaikha Rima Al Sabah has been appointed as the UNHCR’s newest Goodwill Ambassador, while Angelina Jolie, special envoy for the UNHCR, appealed for urgent funding to assist more than 3 million displaced Iraqis and Syrians living in northern Iraq.

Weekly media wrap - 11 January 2015

The group of 50 men on Manus Island with approved refugee applications are being prepared to move from detention to temporary accommodation at the Lorengau transit centre and then into the PNG community. They were told they would be treated like the local Papua New Guineans, but detainees are resisting this move for fear of violence from locals.

An Iranian asylum seeker who went without food for 51 days in the Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre in Northern Territory during late 2014 has resumed his hunger strike. 

A teenage boy who was crew on an asylum seeker boat that arrived nearly two years ago will return home to Indonesia next week. He and another teenage boy have been kept in detention since their arrival, despite a government policy not to prosecute Indonesian children found on the boats. The second boy has also been released on parole and put in immigration detention.

Figures provided to Fairfax Media indicate that ten refugees have been released into the community since August 2014, after ASIO reversed their decisions that the refugees were threats to national security.

Prime Minister Abbott congratulated the new Sri Lankan president-elect Maithripala Sirisena and emphasised the two countries’ cooperation on addressing people smuggling and other issues.

Lebanon turned back Syrians attempting to cross the border under new visa regulations, which limit the amount of time they can stay in Lebanon. Lebanon is concerned about its capacity to accommodate more people displaced by the Syrian civil war.

UNHCR released its Mid-Year Trends 2014 report, which indicate that an estimated 5.5 million people became newly displaced during the first half of 2014. Of these, 1.4 million fled across international borders, with the remaining displaced within their own countries. Syrians have become the largest refugee population under UNHCR's mandate.

Weekly media wrap - 5 January

Former Immigration Minister Scott Morrison threatened to revoke Moreland Council’s right to hold an Australia Day citizenship ceremony if Mayor Megan Hopper refused to read an official Ministerial message. The message is normally delivered at citizenship ceremonies, however it isn’t compulsory. Ms Hopper said the Federal Government’s asylum seeker policies conflicted with the council’s policy. In response, Wollongong Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the letter was ‘fairly innocuous’ and ‘full of motherhood statements’.

The Guardian reported that refugees released from detention on Nauru have pleaded to be allowed back into detention centres due to fears of violence and harassment from locals.

In her New Year address German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a more welcoming attitude to refugees amid concern at the rise of anti-Islamic groups in the country. The first refugees moved into so-called ‘container towns’ in Berlin – emergency housing built from stackable, portable blocks.

Weekly media wrap - 22 December 2014

Immigration and Border Protection Minister Scott Morrison announced that 31 babies born to asylum seekers who were transferred from Nauru to Australia before December 4 will be allowed to stay in Australia, along with their parents and siblings, while their protection claims are assessed in Australia. More than 20 expecting asylum seeker women, who are currently in Darwin, will not be eligible to access this arrangement and will be required to return to Nauru with their babies once born. This one-off arrangement came as a result of a deal made with Senator Rick Muir, whose vote recently secured the passing of new migration laws through the Senate.

The immigration department has been accused of actively delaying visa grants to an 84-year-old Iraqi refugee and her daughter until the new temporary protection visa laws come into force. The two women were both found to be refugees by the Refugee Review Tribunal, but are considering returning home to Iraq as the TPV does not allow a person to sponsor their family. The daughter has a young child who is still overseas with her father. 

An Iranian asylum seeker entered his 49th day of a hunger strike at Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre in Darwin, after being denied refugee status by the Refugee Review Tribunal earlier this year. Reports indicate this man’s health condition is deteriorating, which has sparked legal and medical debate on whether the Department of Immigration and Border Protection can force feed this asylum seeker. 

Papua New Guinea approved 50 refugee applications from Manus Island, but has not yet resettled anyone. PNG Foreign Minister said that the men will be resettled in PNG but that has been delayed by the lack of a policy framework.

Weekly media wrap - 15 December 2014

The Senate's Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee released an inquiry report into the February 2014 incidents on Manus Island, which led to the death of Iranian man Reza Barati. The Senate inquiry found that the government 'failed in its duty' to protect the asylum seekers. It also found that there were violations of human rights that warranted compensation for those who were injured. Coalition MPs who sat on this committee rejected some recommendations, arguing that the underlying issues that led to the riots were the responsibility of the previous Labor government. 

Asylum seekers on Manus Island wrote to Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to be taken off the island, as they fear they will be killed if released.

Documents obtained by The Australian regarding ill asylum seeker Hamid Kehazaei’s transfer from Manus Island in August reveal that the transfer was delayed by bureaucratic obstacles.

Guardian Australia data showed that asylum seekers were put in solitary confinement on Manus Island 74 times during the 25 weeks between 23 May and 17 November.

Asylum seeker families held in the Inverbrackie Immigration Detention Centre in Adelaide were released into the community on bridging visas.

Weekly media wrap - 1 December

The Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen wrote to an opposition party politician defending Cambodia’s ability to host and protect refugees. However, a group of Cambodian NGOs expressed ‘deep concern’ about the deal, and the ‘shroud of secrecy’ surrounding it. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young also wrote about her concerns with the deal, after travelling to Cambodia to assess the conditions that refugees will face there.

The Federal Court of Australia reserved its decision about the right of children born in Australian detention centres to seek refugee visas. Labor and the Greens expressed opposition to a decision by the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee to recommend that the Resolving the asylum seeker caseload bill be passed. The bill also came under pressure from Senate crossbenchers who want the legislation to include a pathway to permanent resettlement of refugees and reunion with immediate family members.

The UN Committee Against Torture released a report criticising elements of Australia’s asylum seeker policies, including the policies of turning back boats carrying asylum seekers and mandatory detention of children on Nauru and Manus Island.

The Guardian reported a female asylum seeker was allegedly impregnated when she was raped in detention on Nauru.  This follows stories of the rape of homosexual asylum seeker men who are scared of being jailed for their sexuality.  

A group of high profile Australians recorded a song calling for an end to child detention.

Asylum seekers on Manus Island wrote to the United States and Canada requesting for resettlement to these countries.

In international news, President Obama announced sweeping reforms to the United States’ immigration policy that will ease the threat of deportation for 4.7 million undocumented immigrants. However, the President’s unprecedented exercise of executive authority is likely to face fierce opposition from the Republican party.

Weekly media wrap - 24 November

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison announced Australia’s humanitarian intake of refugees through the UNHCR would not include people in Indonesia whose claims were assessed after July 1. ‘We're trying to stop people thinking that it's OK to come into Indonesia and use that as a waiting ground to get to Australia’, Mr Morrison said. Australia will continue to accept 13,750 refugees in 2014-15, mostly from countries of first asylum.

Resettled refugees on Nauru received an anonymous letter telling them to leave the island and that ‘bad things’ would happen if they stayed. The Nauruan government dismissed safety concerns and blamed refugee advocates for a ‘campaign of misinformation’.

Amnesty International released a report stating that Turkish border guards killed 17 people fleeing Syria at unofficial border crossings between December 2013 and August 2014.

A boatload of 35 asylum seekers from India and Nepal arrived on the small island of Yap, 2000km north of Papua New Guinea. People smugglers had reportedly told them that they would be taken to Australia.

An investigative report on the Al-Jazeera network claimed there is an illegal market for UNHCR refugee status cards in Malaysia, with some paying people thousands of Malaysian Ringgit for the documents. Sources at UNHCR said an internal investigation has been conducted to assess the fraudulent activity of staff.

Weekly media wrap - 17 November

The UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) is reviewing Australia’s obligations under its treaty for the first time since 2008, and will hand down its assessment on November 28. Australia’s immigration policy came under the spotlight when the committee questioned officials in relation to deaths and treatment of asylum seekers in offshore detention and the interception of boats at sea. Following this, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison announced that his department is set to introduce an independent ‘Detention Assurance Team’ (DAT) which will seek to monitor abuse and misconduct by service providers contracted to run both onshore and offshore detention centres.

The Senate inquiry into the federal government’s migration and maritime powers amendment received over 5,000 submissions, with many critical of the proposed laws. The amendment will seek to fast-track the assessment process and remove existing review mechanisms. The Department of Immigration revealed at the hearing that further legislation is required before asylum seekers are able to transition between the proposed safe haven enterprise visa (SHEV) and other classes of visas. The news comes after more than 100 asylum seekers on Manus Island signed a letter to MP Clive Palmer, asking to be included in plans for the government’s temporary protection visa scheme.

Meanwhile, Papua New Guinea offered 10 asylum seekers in the Manus Island detention centre refugee status, inviting them to apply for a 12-month visa. This follows Greens Senator Sarah Hanson Young’s undertaking to spend a week in Cambodia investigating the conditions for refugees who may be re-settled in the country under the government’s new deal.

Australia’s privacy commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim, released a report concluding that the Department of Immigration unlawfully exposed data on almost 10,000 asylum seekers in detention and left their personal information public for 16 days after the breach was reported.

More than 1000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees fleeing Islamic State militants have been resettled in Australia on special humanitarian visas. Refugee advocates called for two Afghan asylum seekers to be returned to Australia following a High Court order to review a case with similar foundations. An Australian-born child, deemed by authorities as an unauthorised arrival, marked his first birthday in an immigration detention facility in Darwin.