Children watched as people began to self-harm and expressed their wish to die. The years rolled on in this hellhole where there appeared to be no end in sight because Australia had adopted laws – becoming the only country in the world to do so – that allowed for the indefinite detention of people who were not Australian citizens and who were seeking asylum.
The urgent call to halt the Migration Amendment Bill 2024. By Jane Salmon, P & I
Offshore processing persists, and the Immigration Department’s processes are a nightmare for those caught in its web. We’re stuck in a cycle of scapegoating, sensationalised media, and a race to the bottom between political parties.
Yes, the Department of Immigration faces a daunting task. Some exploit the system, claiming protection after initially arriving on student visas. But does that justify indefinite detention and deportation without rehabilitation?
The impending Migration Amendment Bill 2024 is a dangerous step. It paints all seeking protection visas as manipulators of a flawed system. If that were true, most would have given up after twelve gruelling years.
The urgent call to halt the Migration Amendment Bill 2024. By Jane Salmon, P & I
Refugee Sayed Abdellatif freed after almost 12 years in Australian immigration detention. By Sarah Malik, The Guardian
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre with human rights concerns as Nauru detention centre fills with boat arrivals. By Erin Parke & Rosanne Maloney, ABC News
'Black box' hearings prejudice refugee claims: research. By Farid Farid, Canberra Times
A refugee who escaped armed captors in Myanmar was interrogated at an Australian tribunal hearing into her protection claim about why she used the toilet before fleeing soldiers.
‘ Black box' hearings prejudice refugee claims: research. By Farid Farid, Canberra Times
Labor’s big deportation miscalculation – Full Story podcast, The Guardian
Presented by Jane Lee with Paul Karp
TheLabor’s big deportation miscalculation – Full Story podcast, The Guardian attempt to rush through new legislation designed to give the government extra powers to deport individuals from Australia has been rejected by the Senate.
Labor’s big deportation miscalculation - Full story podcast, The Guardian
Australia claims it is a multicultural success story. So why does it want to use godlike law to ringfence the nation? Julianne Schultz, The Guardian
Australians are rightly proud that the White Australia policy, once described as our Magna Carta, withered and finally died 50 years ago.
But the constitutional power to deport “aliens” that gave the exclusionary policy its real clout endures.
The parliament, as it has done repeatedly since 1901, is again tinkering with laws to better “ring fence” the nation. This month yet another Australian government will turn itself in knots as it seeks to convince the high court that it can detain unverified refugees who fail to cooperate with their .involuntary removal.
Meet the Sydney volunteers who are feeding families fleeing Gaza. By Mostafa Rachwani, The Guardian
Palestinians arriving in Australia on visitor visas are facing hardship and community organisations are stepping in to help.
Meet the Sydney volunteers who are feeding families fleeing Gaza. By Mustafa Rachwani, The Guardian
Forget ideology, it's a battle between politicians and lawyers that is shaping immigration policies By Annabel Crabb, ABC
For Dutton, who believes vividly in the forces of good and evil and believes lawyers side too regularly with the forces of evil, it is a lifelong hostility. And for the Albanese government in recent months – confronted with the spectre of High Court judges freeing convicted criminals from detention – Politicians vs Lawyers is a showdown it's joined through sheer existential, electoral desperation.
Government has 'moral duty' to repatriate Australian detained in Syria, Kylie Moore-Gilbert says, SBS, By Anna Henderson, Christy Somos
Academic and author Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was arrested and jailed in Iran for over 800 days
, is now using her platform to push for other Australians detained abroad — including Zahab.
She too thought he had died in the 2022 airstrike, telling SBS News "at the time I was utterly horrified".
News of his survival and continued incarceration in a Syrian prison "affected her deeply".
"I think the government has a moral duty to help Yusuf, and to help the other — in particular underage children — who are Australian citizens," she said. "These children are not culpable for the alleged crimes of their parents or their older siblings."
Refugee delegation visits Canberra to end decade of uncertainty, Jane Salmon, IA
The delegation of eight Tamil, Iranian and Rohingya refugees, aged 17 to 27, addressed MPs from Labor, Greens and Independents at a series of briefings in Parliament House on Tuesday, calling for a fair and fast pathway to permanency for hundreds of young people and the 9,000 refugees who continue to be overlooked by the Albanese Government.
Refugee delegation visits Canberra to end decade of uncertainty. By Janet Salmon, IA
Labor senators join criticism of the government's rushed immigration legislation, ABC, Matthew Doran
The committee was critical of the "broad discretionary powers" the bill would give to the immigration minister, to take action against other countries which do not accept their citizens deported from Australia.
Australian mum Zahra is stuck in a Syrian camp after living under IS. She fears her sons will be taken away. By Rhiona-Jade Armont, SBS
Originally from the northern suburbs of Melbourne, the circumstances of how Zahra’s family came to be in Syria are contested.
Some male members of her family reportedly joined the IS group, but Zahra maintains the women had no choice but to follow.
"I didn’t make this bed," she says.
"We are now forced to suffer for the decisions that other people – other male influencers – have made on our behalf, and now they're all gone and we are left to suffer with our kids."
Andrew Giles faces years of litigation as he fights to prevent another disastrous defeat on immigration Paul Karp, The Guardian
A conscientious man in a controversial portfolio, for the immigration minister being the respondent to literally hundreds of cases a year just comes with the territory.
When the high court ruled in the NZYQ decision that indefinite detention is unlawful if it is not possible to deport the person, overturning a two-decade-old precedent, the legal terrain got even rockier.
Penny Wong blames ‘Peter Dutton-Adam Bandt alliance’ for failure to pass Labor’s deportation laws. By Amy Remeikis,The Guardian
The Coalition supported a Greens motion in the Senate to send the deportation legislation to a Senate inquiry, despite having voted with the government to pass the legislation through the House of Representatives, after Labor failed to produce reasons for the bill’s urgency.
Nightmare of deportation: Labor tries on Dutton’s racist jackboots By Jane Salmon, P&I
The latest Migration Act amendments reflects the fact that Pezzullo’s protégées are still running the Department of Home Affairs. They are actively papering over the mess that their own indefinite detention decisions created. A sharp new broom is needed to clear out the departmental debris……..
So what is Labor’s real game: draconian policy or benign inclusion and compassion? If Labor intermittently apes the LNP just to get across the electoral line, more of the electorate may be tempted to flirt with independents and the LNP.
Nightmare of deportation: Labor tries on Dutton's racist jackboots. By Jane Salmon, P & I
The consequences of the government’s new migration legislation could be dire – for individuals and for Australia. The Conversation. By Jane McAdam, Daniel Ghezelbash, Madeline Gleeson, Tristan Harley
The bill also gives the minister a new power to “blacklist” entire countries and prevent their citizens from applying for Australian visas.
This is a discretionary power that requires little consultation and is unlikely to be subject to administrative or judicial review. The only limitations on this power are that the minister first consults with the prime minister and minister for foreign affairs. The immigration minister must also detail why they think it is in the national interest to make such a decision.
‘Worse than Trump’: Multicultural leaders shocked by immigration proposals. By Matthew Knott and Angus Thompson, SMH
Baffled, blindsided and distressed. That’s how Ali Elliin says members of the Iranian-Australian community feel about the Albanese government’s proposed immigration changes that could ban their extended family members and friends from entering the country.
Under the changes, the immigration minister could prevent foreigners from particular countries from entering Australia, even as tourists, if their home country refuses to accept the return of failed asylum seekers. Iran, Iraq, Russia, South Sudan and Zimbabwe are the countries most likely to be targeted as “removal concern countries”.
Labor blindsided after detainee documents tabled. By James Massola and Nick McKenzie, SMH
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles hoped to keep the document from public scrutiny, according to seven government sources who spoke to this masthead on background, planning instead for the recently appointed Home Affairs Secretary Stephanie Foster to provide verbal answers to Paterson’s questions late on the Monday afternoon.
Labor blindsided after detainee documents tabled. By James Massola and Nick McKenzie, SMH
‘Ultra-marathon in incompetence’: Political chaos as Labor rams through latest High Court fix. By Angus Thompson and Olivia Ireland, The Age
Crossbenchers in the lower house warned that Australia would send people to their deaths under Immigration Minister Andrew Giles’ latest bill, which also denies visas to people from nations that don’t accept unwilling deportees and allows the Immigration Department to reverse protection findings after they are granted.