Labor is settling asylum cases to avoid High Court actions. By Mike Seccombe ,The Saturday Paper

A week after last November’s High Court decision, ruling against indefinite immigration detention, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil was, in the words of refugee advocate Alison Battisson, trying to “out-Dutton Dutton”.

It’s a fair description, because that’s pretty much how O’Neil described the government’s efforts in parliament.

“The leader of the opposition loves to present himself as a tough guy on borders,” O’Neil said at the end of last year. “He never wrote laws as tough as this.”

Labor is settling asylum cases to avoid High Court actions. By Mike Seccombe , The Saturday Paper

‘If anything happens to me, look after my family’: Manus Island death leaves unanswered questions on offshore detention. By Ben Doherty, The Guardian

“I am not pretending,” he reportedly told friends the day before he died. “I cannot breathe, my heart is not working.”

In 2016, the last year of his life, Ishak Ahmed presented to the doctors within the Manus Island detention centre 60 times. In December alone, he presented eight times. He would be dead before the month was over.

’If anything happens to me, look after my family’: Manus Island death leaves unanswered questions on offshore detention. By Ben Doherty, The Guardian

Indonesian crews rescue dozens of Rohingya refugees clinging to capsized boat. ABC News

An Indonesian search and rescue ship has located a capsized wooden boat carrying dozens of Rohingya Muslim refugees, pulling survivors who had been standing on its hull to safety.

The Associated Press said 10 people had been taken aboard local fishing boats and another 59 were being saved by the Indonesian craft.

Men, women and children, weak and soaked from the night's rain, wept as the rescue operation got underway and people were taken aboard a rubber dinghy to the rescue boat.

Indonesian crews rescue dozens of Rohingya refugees clinging to capsized boat. ABC News

Nadia thought she understood English. When she arrived in Australia, she was shocked. By Biwa Khan, SBS News

"There may be an existing view that migrants are not providing value to Australia, but our data is certainly showing that they're making contributions to address the challenges that we have with ageing populations and with skilled shortages, and that they are filling the gaps where they're most needed."

Nadia thought she understood English. When she arrived in Australia, she was shocked. By Biwa Khan, SBS News

Clare O’Neil claims she relied on verbal briefings only for prediction of high court immigration detention win. By Paul Karp, The Guardian

The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, has claimed she relied only on verbal advice when declaring the government believed it would win the NZYQ high court case or succeed in deporting the plaintiff.

O’Neil’s claim is contained in a freedom of information decision from the home affairs department refusing access to “operational advice” about deporting NZYQ, the stateless Rohingya man who won a case overturning the legality of indefinite detention.

Clare O’Neil claims she relied on verbal briefings only for prediction of high court immigration detention win. By Paul Karp, The Guardian

Are released immigration detainees a risk to community safety or is this a storm in a teacup? By Abul Rizvi, The Mandarin

What is the best way to keep the community safe? Is it by forcing these people to live the rest of their lives under severe monitoring conditions that will inevitably mean their ability to get a job, a bank loan, a passport, etc is impossible? That will only increase their frustration and that of their families.

Or is it better to try and rehabilitate these people so they can become solid contributors to society?

Are released immigration detainees a risk to community safety or is this a storm in a teacup? By Abul Rizvi, The Mandarin

‘The wait is too long’: the refugees left in PNG after a decade in Australia’s offshore detention. By Ben Doherty, The Guardian

The department refuses to say how many of the nearly 1,400 people Australia sent to PNG remain there.

Guardian Australia understands there are 52, as well as a number of their wives and partners, and 28 children. Four want to stay in PNG, three are within the “process” of moving to the US, 19 to New Zealand and seven to Canada. But nearly two dozen have no “pathway” to resettlement.

Australia’s claim that those remaining are the responsibility of the PNG government is not supported by international law.

‘The wait is too long’: the refugees left in PNG after a decade in Australia’s offshore detention. By Ben Doherty, The Guardian

A ring-fence around the Rohingya can’t last – Australia’s policy needs to change. By Arunn Jegan, The Interpreter

At Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), we strongly believe that the current path donors such as Australia are taking is short-sighted and focused on containing Rohingya in fenced refugee camps where they face food insecurity and poor health conditions. This approach is directly complicit in reinforcing harmful aid-dependency, and after seven years (and for some, more than two decades), the Rohingya deserve a more humane and certain future. August this year will mark seven years since the forced exit of more than 900,000 Rohingya from their homelands in Myanmar into Bangladesh – no humanitarian program should last this long without a realistic long-term plan for a better future.

A ring-fence around the Rohingya can’t last – Australia’s policy needs to change. By Arunn Jegan, The Interpreter

Australia to investigate how Palestinians crossed Gaza border after government suspends visas. By Sarah Basford Canales & Amy Remeikis, The Guardian

“We have made a strong commitment to assisting people who are trying to leave Gaza. But we make no apology for doing everything necessary to maintain our national security.”

The comments expand on the response provided from a spokesperson on Thursday, noting “all visa applicants undergo security checks and are subject to ongoing security assessments” and that the Australian government “reserves the right to cancel any issued visas if circumstances change”.

Australia to investigate how Palestinians crossed Gaza border after government suspends visas. By Sarah Basford Canales & Amy Remeikis, The Guardian

Government promises greater NZYQ transparency as new immigration cases loom. By Matthew Doran, ABC News


In short: The federal government has committed to monthly public reports on the immigration detainees released into the community late last year. 

The case known as NZYQ has seen 149 people released from detention on strict visa conditions.

What's next? The government is closely watching other cases working through the courts that could have implications for the immigration system.

Government promises greater NZYQ transparency as new immigration cases loom. By Matthew Doran, ABC News

Secret Serco rating system for immigration detainees must be scrapped, say Greens. By Ariel Bogle, The Guardian

“Serco’s use of algorithms without oversight in immigration detention, with its profound flaws and opacity, is unacceptable and must end immediately,” said Nick McKim, the Greens immigration spokesperson.

“The Australian government and Serco owe the public a full explanation of this practice, which has severe implications for fundamental human rights.”

Human rights commissioner Lorraine Finlay said the AHRC has “consistently expressed concerns” about the SRAT and questioned whether it leads to restrictive measures that “are not necessary, reasonable, or proportionate”.

Secret Serco rating system for immigration detainees must be scrapped, say Greens. By Ariel Bogle, The Guardian

'Give us reasons': Families of Palestinians left in limbo by visa cancellations demand answers. By Anna Henderson & Rayane Tam, SBS

The General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific has urged the government to "urgently" reconsider its decision and enable those who had been granted visas to travel safely to Australia.

"With extreme difficulty, these individuals and families were finally able to exit through the Rafah crossing and escape unimaginable horrors in Gaza, only to find themselves stranded in transit countries, unable to travel onward to Australia," the delegation said in a statement.

"Transit countries permitted them entry for a limited time only because they held Australian visas: they will be forced to leave, but they have nowhere else to go.

"Introducing such unjustified measures will undermine the positive engagement process between the Australian government and the Palestinian community, and widen the gap that is already growing between them, worsened by Australia's ongoing suspension of aid to UNRWA."

'Give us reasons': Families of Palestinians left in limbo by visa cancellations demand answers. By Anna Henderson & Rayane Tam, SBS

148 people released from immigration detention had invalid visas. How did this happen? By Jessica Bahr, SBS

The government said there was a technical inconsistency in migration regulations and how they apply to the Bridging (Removal Pending) - BVR - visas issued to the group of people released from indefinite immigration detention.
The inconsistency dates back to 2013 when the visa was created, and rendered the BVR visa issued to the NZYQ group invalid.
149 people were released in the grouping and 148 are known to have been on visas that were invalid due to this inconsistency in law. One person had a valid visa.
The 148 people with invalid visas have had their visas re-issued, with strict conditions attached.

148 people released from immigration detention had invalid visas. How did this happen? By Jessica Bahr, SBS

Revealed: the secret algorithm that controls the lives of Serco’s immigration detainees. By Ariel Bogle, The Guardian

In Australia’s immigration detention centres, each detainee is given security risk ratings decided by an algorithm – but they’re not even told it exists.

Developed by Serco, the company tasked with running Australia’s immigration detention network, the Security Risk Assessment Tool – or SRAT – is meant to determine whether someone is low, medium, high or extreme risk for escape or violence.

Revealed: the secret algorithm that controls the lives of Serco’s immigration detainees. By Ariel Bogle, The Guardian

Sussan Ley’s desperate dog whistling will not be forgotten. By Jane Salmon, Pearls & Irritations

Deputy Opposition leader Sussan Ley’s faux “concern” for the safety of women of Dunkley seems to have evaporated now that the polls are closed.

Her famously racist tweet about dangers of released indefinite detainees into Frankston has now been removed.

It has done its job: crisis over. Really??

Sussan Ley’s desperate dog whistling will not be forgotten. By Jane Salmon, Pearls & Irritations

Daniel Ghezelbash named next Director of the Kaldor Centre, with Jane McAdam staying on to launch the Evacuations Research Hub under her Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship.

With the establishment of the Evacuations Research Hub at the Kaldor Centre, McAdam will turn her focus to generating legal and policy innovations to protect the rights of evacuees, building on the Centre’s pioneering work on displacement in the context of climate change and disasters.

McAdam said, ‘I am immensely proud of all the Centre has achieved over the past decade and look forward to being part of the Centre team under Daniel’s extremely capable leadership. With his personal experience as the child of Iranian refugees, his practical legal expertise and a powerful record of cutting-edge scholarship, Daniel is ideally placed to lead the Centre into its next phase of growth and impact.’

Daniel Ghezelbash named next Director of the Kaldor Centre, with Jane McAdam staying on to launch the Evacuations Research Hub under her Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship.