Tuvaluans prepare for life in Australia as rising tides swallow their country. By Coco Veldkamp, ABC News

Kuata Taumaheke has her hopes set on a new beginning in Australia.

"It's a sad situation because we Tuvaluans contribute less to the cause of climate change but we are the ones suffering," she says.

After missing out in a recent random ballot for permanent residency via Australia's new Pacific Engagement Visa, she's preparing to try her luck with another migration pathway.

The Falepili Union, an agreement letting Tuvaluans escape the impacts of climate change and move to Australia, came into effect last month.The program is expected to start in nine months and will allow up to 280 people to migrate each year through a random ballot.

Tuvaluans prepare for life in Australia as rising tides swallow their country. By Coco Veldkamp, ABC News

New policy brief by Jane McAdam AO and Regina Jefferies of the Kaldor Centre’s Evacuations Research Hub

When crises threaten lives, the Australian government often steps up – but not always in a predictable, efficient, equitable and effective way, if responses to Afghanistan, Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza are anything to go by. For some people escaping these conflicts, travel to Australia has been relatively easy; for others, impossible. Some people who reach Australia have rights to work, study, healthcare and support, while others are barely surviving.  

Over time, Australia has issued at least 25 different visa types to assist people in humanitarian emergencies. A new Kaldor Centre policy brief outlines them all and argues that it does not need to be this complicated. 

Instead, ‘Ensuring Protection in Humanitarian Emergencies: A framework for Australia’ recommends that the Australian government should streamline its humanitarian crisis response with a new, dedicated emergency visa. 

The policy brief is authored by Scientia Professor Jane McAdam AO and Dr Regina Jefferies of the Evacuations Research Hub at the Kaldor Centre.
 
It proposes the new emergency visa as part of a holistic, more equitable and agile response to crises. Encompassing both physical and legal protection, the broader emergency response framework proposed could be activated when sudden or large-scale crises arise around the world, and tailored to the specific context. The framework is designed with Australia in mind, but it could also be used as a model for other countries.

The policy brief sets out what an emergency visa should look like – including who should be eligible for the visa, what rights it would provide, and how long it should last. The policy brief’s broader recommendations detail what the humanitarian emergency framework needs in order to achieve a more predictable, equitable, streamlined and efficient outcome – for all concerned.

New policy brief by Jane McAdam AO and Regina Jefferies of the Kaldor Centre’s Evacuations Research Hub

Landmark settlements for children detained in Nauru. By Farid Farid, The Canberra Times

"The cases reinforce the legal principle that the commonwealth has a duty of care to asylum seekers offshore and now that the Medevac law has been repealed, this principle is their only enforceable protection," Ms Hearne explained.

The cases date back to 2018 when NJP and other advocates asked the court to order the Morrison government to transfer critically ill children to Australia to receive appropriate medical care.

Landmark settlements for children detained in Nauru. By Farid Farid, The Canberra Times

Australia’s construction industry needs more hands on deck – so why is it ignoring skilled migrant women? By Suhair Alkilani & Martin Loosemore, The Conversation

Women skilled in the trades needed face special barriers. This might be expected from an industry in which (in New South Wales at least) around half the employers have a workforce that is nearly all male and one-third employ no women at all.

Our survey of 70 Australian subcontractors found they saw significant safety, productivity and cost risks in employing migrants and refugees and groups including disengaged youth, people with a disability, ex-offenders, women and Indigenous workers.

In many cases, these perceived risks did not align with actual risks.

Australia’s construction industry needs more hands on deck – so why is it ignoring skilled migrant women? By Suhair Alkilani & Martin Loosemore, The Conversation

Ex-Manus Island detainees stranded in PNG threatened with eviction over unpaid rent. By Paul Karp & Ben Doherty, The Guardian

Asylum seekers stranded in Papua New Guinea have been threatened with eviction if an alleged $110,000 rental arrears debt is not paid, leading to urgent calls for the Australian government to intervene to prevent them becoming “homeless”.

The families are among about 70 people who sought asylum in Australia but remain in PNG, previously detained at Australia’s detention centre on Manus Island before it was ruled unlawful by PNG’s supreme court in 2016.

Ex-Manus Island detainees stranded in PNG threatened with eviction over unpaid rent. By Paul Karp & Ben Doherty, The Guardian

Record numbers of temporary graduates in immigration limbo. By Abul Rizvi, Pearls & Irritations

Temporary graduate visas are for overseas students who complete their study and wish to undertake work in Australia, often as a pathway to permanent residence. These visas work best when the bulk of temporary graduates seeking permanent residence are able to secure skilled work and eventually a permanent residence employer sponsored (or other) permanent visa.

Record numbers of temporary graduates in immigration limbo. By Abul Rizvi, Pearls & Irritations

Pope takes refugee concerns on the road. By Robin Osborne, P&I

Nowadays, PNG is better known for its colourful dance troupes, rugby league players and World War II sites, but back in the early 1980s it was in the headlines for a different reason, the influx of thousands of Melanesian people fleeing Indonesian rule in the neighbouring province of West Papua, then known as Irian Jaya.

The great bulk of those refugees, estimated to number up to 10,000, are still in PNG today, spread out along the north-south border, living in camps that have become villages, fearful of returning to Indonesia where conflict between the military and local resistance continues to play out. Like the PNG population, they are almost universally Christian…..

Jason Siwat, director of the refugee program for the Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG and the Solomon Islands, says, ‘The West Papuans have conflict with local landowners, so they can’t farm and consequently face food insecurity. They’re unable to pay school fees, and even suffer untreated snake bites when they move about to gather firewood or hunt for food.”

These people live far away and out of sight of the media. The latter condition also applies to dozens more West Papuans who have made it to PNG’s capital of Port Moresby where Siwat’s team has gone house to house, or more accurately shanty to shanty, documenting conditions and needs, including hygiene and nutrition shortcomings, and lack of educational and work opportunities.

Pope takes refugee concerns on the road. By Robin Osborne, P&I

'Deeply insensitive': Refugee advocates left reeling by Labor MP’s comments. By Christopher Tan, SBS

Among those protesting is a group of Perth-based Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, who have staged a sit-in protest and vigil outside federal Labor MP Sam Lim’s office in Willetton.

Lim holds the seat of Tangney, which spans south Perth and has a strong Sri Lankan Tamil population: Tamil is spoken by 1.2 per cent of the electorate, which is four times higher than the WA state average and three times the national average.

The protest at Willetton took a turn on Monday afternoon when the first-time Labor MP and former police officer made an unscheduled appearance.

'Deeply insensitive': Refugee advocates left reeling by Labor MP’s comments. By Christopher Tan, SBS

A message from the new Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Law at UNSW, Daniel Ghezelbash

Our work is needed now more than ever, in Australia and internationally. Growing inequality, conflict, climate change and technological disruption are making the challenges of displacement even more complex. We are uniquely positioned to undertake the deep, long-term thinking and rigorous research required to address these emerging issues. 

A message from the new Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Law at UNSW, Daniel Ghezelbash

Gazans who arrived in Australia on visitor visas say seeking asylum is their only option as the war continues. By Maani Truu, ABC News

Saadou Khalaf was a successful dentist and university lecturer in Gaza. In Sydney, he's a shopkeeper, or meat factory worker, or a warehouse packer, or anything else he can pick up a casual shift doing. 

"I say to myself: 'You are a professional and you have to continue to be a professional,'" he says. "Any work that is given to me, I try to do in a very proper way."

He is thankful to be allowed to work at all, after arriving with his family in March on a three-month visitor visa that did not allow him to earn money. Since applying for a permanent protection visa, his bridging visa allows him to work and access Medicare — but that's not the case for other Palestinians who were initially granted six or 12-month temporary visas.

Gazans who arrived in Australia on visitor visas say seeking asylum is their only option as the war continues. By Maani Truu, ABC News

Rise in Palestinian applications for onshore protection visas as pressure grows on Albanese government. By Paul Karp, The Guardian

The number of Palestinians applying onshore for protection has continued to grow, increasing pressure on the Albanese government over its decision to require them to come to Australia on visitor visas first.

Rise in Palestinian applications for onshore protection visas as pressure grows on Albanese government. By Paul Karp, The Guardian

More than four countries taking in Palestinians fleeing Gaza. By William Summers, AAP

AAP FACTCHECK – Claims are circulating on social media that Australia is one of only four countries that has taken refugees from Gaza. 

This is false. More than four countries have approved visas for Palestinians since the renewed outbreak of war in the region in October 2023. 

The exact number of nations that have offered visas to Palestinians is difficult to establish due to significant variations in approaches taken by individual countries. 

However, immigration data and media reports show at least 10 countries other than Australia have offered a safe haven to people fleeing the region since October 2023. 

More than four countries taking in Palestinians fleeing Gaza. By William Summers, AAP

Mani once sang of freedom in Afghanistan. Now, silenced, she’s desperate to escape. Will Australia help? By Shadi Khan Saif, The Guardian

In the final days of the Afghan republic – in defiance of a looming takeover by the Taliban – the Hazara journalist Mani sang revolutionary poems in public in Kabul about women, freedom and justice. Now she is on the run, waiting for the Australian government to grant her a humanitarian visa.

Mani once sang of freedom in Afghanistan. Now, silenced, she’s desperate to escape. Will Australia help? By Shadi Khan Saif, The Guardian

Crossbench MPs call on prime minister to make pathway for asylum seekers stuck in 'limbo' By Andi Yu, ABC

A group of 25 federal crossbench MPs have written a letter addressed to the prime minister and immigration minister urging them to allow asylum seekers stuck in visa limbo a pathway to permanency in Australia. 

Their letter follows the tragic death of 23-year-old Tamil refugee Mano Yogalingam in Melbourne on Wednesday. 

Crossbench MPs call on prime minister to make pathway for asylum seekers stuck in 'limbo' By Andi Yu, ABC

Afghanistan is a US election issue. Will its refugees’ voices be heard? By Joseph Stepansky, , Aljazeera

Arash Azizzada — the executive director of Afghans for a Better Tomorrow, an advocacy group — said members of the Afghan community in the US, like him, feel a “sense of anger and disappointment” this election season “when we look at both candidates”.

“We are feeling pretty invisible this election season,” he added.

Azizzada’s group has spent the last three years pushing for more immigration pathways for those fleeing the Taliban, including an increase in special visas for Afghans who worked directly with the US and pathways to permanent residency for other evacuees.

Afghanistan is a US election issue. Will its refugees’ voices be heard? By Joseph Stepansky, , Aljazeera

Asylum seeker dies in Melbourne a day after self-immolation By Natassia Chrysanthos and Henrietta Cook, The Age

The self-immolation of a 23-year-old asylum seeker will pressure Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to resolve the visa status of more than 8000 people whose futures have been uncertain since they arrived by boat more than a decade ago.

Mano Yogalingam, a father-of-one and factory worker who was 11 when he left Sri Lanka with his family, spent his final weeks camped outside the Home Affairs offices in Melbourne while protesting against Australian immigration policy. He died in hospital on Wednesday after lighting himself on fire at a skate park in Melbourne’s south-east on Tuesday night.

Asylum seeker dies in Melbourne a day after self-immolation By Natassia Chrysanthos and Henrietta Cook, The Age

The asylum seeker who saw no way out of Australia’s ‘cobweb of cruelty’. By Ben Doherty and Mostafa Rachwani, The Guardian

A Christian Tamil from Sri Lanka’s west coast, he arrived by boat in Australia in 2013 as a 12-year-old boy with his parents and four siblings, having fled alleged military persecution in the postwar upheaval of his home country.

After more than a year in detention, he was granted a temporary visa. He went to school in Melbourne, he made friends, he built a life and a place in his community. But he was never allowed to feel settled and at home.

For more than a decade, Mano lived with the constant uncertainty of a temporary visa; with the acknowledged unfairness of the flawed “fast-track” process; with the ever-present threat that he would be returned to a homeland he had only known as a child.

The asylum seeker who saw no way out of Australia’s ‘cobweb of cruelty’. By Ben Doherty and Mostafa Rachwani, The Guardian