The group of 33 arrivals was initially held on Christmas Island by the Australian Border Force (ABF) but has since been transferred to another offshore facility, understood to be Nauru.
A spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil told the ABC "as is long standing practice, we do not confirm or comment on operational matters".
33 suspected asylum seekers reach Christmas Island by boat. By Andrew Greene, ABC News
…Remember, this is the sector that played a role in the way the Coalition lost control of Australia’s borders to visa scammers and fake refugee applicants. It should have been under intense scrutiny. But there is literally no aspect of OMARA’s operations that was done properly: the framework within which it was supposed to operate didn’t exist or was outdated; it didn’t use its powers to investigate complaints; it didn’t vet applicants; it didn’t use its powers to monitor agents; it didn’t use its powers to sanction agents; it didn’t report properly; and it misled its minister.
Home Affairs is a disaster. It needs an urgent and radical overhaul. By Bernard Keane, Crikey
Instead of increasingly desperate legal workarounds, the Albanese government must confront the truth at the heart of this sorry legal saga. Freedom cannot be determined solely by nationality or visa status. Whatever the reason that a person cannot be deported, a lifetime of detention can never be the answer.
Sanmati Verma is acting legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre
In a statement, Mr Giles said that the government had "fought strongly" to defend its position in the High Court.
"We welcome today's unanimous decision of the court, which has found that individuals who are not cooperating with their own removal are able to remain in immigration detention until they are removed from Australia," he said.
"Community safety continues to be our highest priority and we will continue to take all necessary steps to keep Australians as safe as possible."
High Court dismisses ASF17 migration case. By Matthew Doran, ABC News
There is tragedy, suicide, bullying, surveillance, rendition. Safe Haven reads like an open wound. But there is also a strong thread of tenderness, compassion and courage.
Take youth offending. The Queensland Labor government, desperate to win an election this year, last week announced that detention was no longer the last resort for youth! You read it correctly. It is a return to the 19th century, literally. As the JRI’s Director Dr Mindy Sitori said of the ‘plan’; “Locking up children is already costing Queensland taxpayers over $218 million per year, while a new 80-bed youth detention centre to cater for the overflow will cost more than $600 million in building costs alone.” And as she rightly pointed out, the “punitive approach is failing Queenslanders on every front – creating a backlog in the court system, dangerous overcrowding in detention centres and an overflow into adult watchhouses that continues to violate the basic human rights, safety and wellbeing of children as young as 10.”
Australian politicians lock more people up, for longer. By Greg Barns, P&I
The federal government's bid to gain extraordinary new immigration powers to aid deportations of non-citizens rests on whether it is willing to do a deal with the Coalition to make a series of amendments.
Six weeks ago the Coalition and the Greens teamed up to punt Labor’s controversial deportation bill to a Senate inquiry.
It was a sign of the Albanese government’s vulnerability on the immigration detention issue since the NZYQ high court decision that the opposition felt it had more to gain by keeping the issue running than helping to pass tough new laws.
For the Greens, it was a chance to kill a bill they hated. It contains mandatory minimum sentences of one year in prison for a non-citizen refusing to cooperate with their deportation, as well as ministerial powers to blacklist whole countries from new visa applications.
Qin arrived in Australia to join her father in 1989 when she was three years old and quickly adapted to life here, she writes in her book ‘Model Minority Gone Rogue’.
She was soon excelling academically, encouraged by her "tiger mother" who enrolled her in piano, violin, Chinese, swimming, art, maths and gymnastics lessons.
When asked what she did on her weekends, her answer was "homework".
Forty years ago, Oanh Thi Tran was hidden inside the hold of her father’s fishing boat as the family fled Vietnam, setting sail across the high seas towards an unknown future.
How a Vietnamese refugee became a Fair Work Commissioner, UNHCR
In the media. In policy. In research
Thirty-six athletes from 11 different countries, hosted by 15 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and competing across 12 sports were named today as members of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024. The announcement was made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, Thomas Bach, during a live-streamed ceremony from Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland. Appearing at the Olympic Games for the third time, the IOC Refugee Olympic Team will represent the more than 100 million displaced people around the world.
The government has consistently said the migration legislation "closes a loophole" for people who have "no legal grounds" to remain in Australia, and would give the government powers it should already have.
But supporters of the Biloela family said the government's bill was "cruel" and would break-up communities and families, like was the case with the Nadesalingam family in Biloela.
Labor frontbencher Ed Husic said the situation was concerning.
“We are deeply concerned about what we have seen, we have had to respond to a court decision that required the release of those detainees and put in place measures to be able to protect the Australian public as much as we possibly can,” he told ABC TV on Tuesday.
A submission to the immigration minister, released under freedom of information, shows that on 18 September Giles refused to give NZYQ a visa or release him into community detention, nine days before the government approached its Five Eyes allies to deport him.
The government lost the high court challenge in November, resulting in the release of more than 150 immigration detainees.
The lawyer who represented the Biloela family, Carina Ford, acknowledged that a situation like the one the Biloela family faced could arise again. Ford said that asylum seekers who arrived in Australia many years ago, have been granted bridging visas, found work and started families, all while languishing in various glacial, much criticised visa application cul de sacs, could find themselves detained, with their only hope being that the minister decides to grant them a visa.
To that end, earlier this month, Ford, who is also chair of the Law Council’s migration law committee, warned the Labor government that its problematic deportation bill “could see people rounded up to be removed”.
“This bill has huge ramifications. It’s very draconian and I’m actually a little shocked that it’s been presented,” Ford told Crikey after appearing at the Senate inquiry.
Is Labor trying to ‘out-Dutton Dutton’ on immigration detention? By Rebekah Holt, Crikey
A departmental spokesperson confirmed to Guardian Australia that in May 2022 it established “a third country options taskforce to enhance efforts to address removal barriers for long-term detention cases, particular for those individuals that could not be removed to their home country”.
In November 2022 it was succeeded in the ABF by Operation Zufolo, which is described as the operational and removal phase.
"Our goal is to build a smaller, better planned, more strategic migration system that works for Australia," Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said.
Points test system for skilled migrants set for overhaul. SBS News
Hedayat Osyan is the winner of the 2024 Australia for UNHCR – SBS Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition. Through his social enterprise, CommUnity Construction, Oysan trains and employs refugees in construction, empowering them to become self-sufficient.
Afghan social entrepreneur wins Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition. SBS News
BB You are right that we have different groups of people oppressed by different systems. However, oppression everywhere operates through the same mechanism of power, that’s why the concept of intersectionality is important.
Different minorities can understand each other better by sharing their stories – a Kurd in the Middle East, a Baha’i in Iran, an Aboriginal person in Australia. In my perspective, it’s crucial to recognise what these experiences have in common if we want to challenge the power structure that creates them.
Another point you raised is how colonisers create hate among people and divide communities. In the context of Manus, they not only divided refugees from the local community but they brought that division within the detainee community itself. The system in Manus fostered division by pitting individuals against each other in competition for access to necessities such as food and space. Detainees internalise the violence and humiliation they endure, which leads to self-hatred and hatred of others. However, in Manus, we had a culture of brotherhood at the same time. It is important to raise awareness about this internalisation process and empower people to challenge it.
Creativity is freedom for detainees. By Behrouz Boochani, The Saturday Paper
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