We knew offshore detention was bad for the mental health of people seeking asylum. Our new research shows exactly how bad. The Conversation

People who had been detained offshore were 16.5-20.2 times more likely to report PTSD, five times more likely to report depression, and 4.6-5.2 times more likely to report suicidal ideation, compared to people who had been detained onshore for less than six months.

A link between offshore detention and mental illness is not surprising. However, we were surprised by the magnitude of this effect.

Prolonged onshore detention also carried serious mental health consequences. People who had been detained onshore for six months or longer were 16.9 times more likely to report PTSD and 5.5 times more likely to report suicidal ideation compared to people who had been detained onshore for less than six months.

We knew offshore detention was bad for the mental health of people seeking asylum. Our new research shows exactly how bad. The Conversation

Unpacking PALM worker asylum seeking. By Stephen Howes, The Devpolicy Blog

The first blog in this two-part series made two main points: that the total number of Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme workers on farms is falling, and that the number of PALM workers applying for asylum is now in the hundreds per month. The blog argued that these points may be related. It is a risk for employers that workers that they have paid to recruit and travel to Australia may claim asylum and leave.

Unpacking PALM worker asylum seeking. By Stephen Howes, The Devpolicy Blog

‘Whitewash’: New Zealand foreign minister blasts Australian COVID inquiry. By Matthew Knott, SMH

Peters said the trans-Tasman relationship had been strained by the Albanese government’s adoption of a new immigration rule – known as direction 110 – designed to give administrative review officials more leeway to deport foreign criminals.

Peters said New Zealanders with little connection to their birth country, including those who had spent most of their lives in Australia, should not be deported in a bid to ease Labor’s political problems with immigration……

…The federal government scrapped the previous “direction 99” after it was blamed for allowing dozens of convicted criminals to be released into the community rather than returned to their country of citizenship.

Peters said Australia had been a “massive beneficiary of New Zealand’s education and skills system”, arguing that New Zealanders were the highest-earning immigrants in Australia.

‘Whitewash’: New Zealand foreign minister blasts Australian COVID inquiry. By Matthew Knott, SMH

Labor’s plan to re-impose ankle bracelet and curfew regime ‘very likely’ to face legal challenge, advocates say. By Sarah Basford Canales and Josh Butler, The Guardian

The Refugee Legal executive director, David Manne, who acted for the plaintiff YBFZ on Wednesday, was reluctant to forewarn of further legal challenges. But he described the new bill as “an offshore warehousing regime” and an “act of consciously calculated cruelty”.

Peter Dutton claimed the government’s response was “not enough”, signalling the Coalition would seek to make migration and border security a major issue at the 2025 federal election.

He said migration issues “were very real” in the US election, “and I think they’re going to be real in the upcoming [federal] election.”

Labor’s plan to re-impose ankle bracelet and curfew regime ‘very likely’ to face legal challenge, advocates say. By Sarah Basford Canales and Josh Butler, The Guardian

New powers allow NZYQ group to be re-detained, and a foreign nation to be paid to accept them By Jake Evans, ABC News

It means that if the federal government can find a country to make a deal with to accept the NZYQ cohort, the government would then be able to put the group back into detention pending their deportation.

The new powers also enable the government to make payments to that country to receive deportees.

New powers allow NZYQ group to be re-detained, and a foreign nation to be paid to accept them By Jake Evans, ABC News

‘We don’t want them in Australia at all’: Labor wants more powers to re-detain and remove non-citizens to third countries. By Paul Karp, The Guardian

In question time, Burke said the government had enacted regulations to reapply ankle bracelets and curfews to people released by the high court and had introduced legislation “required to have all the full powers we want to be able to have” in relation to removals.

“This government’s first priority is community safety … the first priority is not ankle bracelets or detention for these people, our first priority is: we don’t want them in Australia at all.”

According to its explanatory memorandum, the bill authorises the government to pay a third country to accept unlawful non-citizens from Australia, such as the 224 people released as a result of the high court’s November 2023 NZYQ decision that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful.

‘We don’t want them in Australia at all’: Labor wants more powers to re-detain and remove non-citizens to third countries. By Paul Karp, The Guardian

Government moves to urgently reimpose ankle monitors and curfews for 'NZYQ' group after High Court rules them unlawful By Jake Evans, ABC News

The federal government is moving urgently to write new regulations to allow ankle monitoring and curfews for people released from immigration detention under the NZYQ ruling.

The High Court ruled laws imposing strict conditions on released "NZYQ" detainees were illegal.

Government moves to urgently reimpose ankle monitors and curfews for 'NZYQ' group after High Court rules them unlawful By Jake Evans, ABC News

Opinion: The Pauline Hanson verdict is welcome but only cultural change will remove Australia’s stain of racism. By Arif Hussein, The Guardian

Friday’s ruling by the federal court that Senator Pauline Hanson racially vilified Senator Mehreen Faruqi when Senator Hanson told Senator Faruqi to “piss off back to Pakistan” on X is welcome and long overdue, especially for many people in the Australian Muslim community and other marginalised groups who have been racially vilified by Senator Hanson.

Senator Hanson has a long history of hateful and discriminatory speech, including inflammatory attempts in parliament to ban the burqa, wind back protection for transgender children and stoke anti-Asian hate.

Rather than being punished for these comments, Senator Hanson has been elected into local, state and federal parliaments. So it is not a surprise that it has taken decades for an Australian court to rule that what Senator Hanson has been saying is discriminatory.

Opinion: The Pauline Hanson verdict is welcome but only cultural change will remove Australia’s stain of racism. By Arif Hussein, The Guardian

‘Everything else disappears’: How music brings relief in detention centres. By Penry Buckley, Sydney Morning Herald

In the quiet of his room in NSW’s Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, Carlos, an Ecuadorian asylum seeker, found a respite from the daily drudgery of “waiting for results, waiting for a visa, or just for information” - playing songs on a donated guitar.

Carlos, 51, who asked his surname not be used while he awaits permanent protection visa approval, spent several years in Villawood following an earlier visa cancellation, after a criminal conviction saw him serve jail time.

Philip Feinstein says guitars remain the most popular instrument among detainees, although there are often requests for regional instruments, especially from asylum seekers from the Middle East.

“The music for us was a way of escaping pressure…of feeling or expressing, actually, how we felt about the way we were living,” he said.

He’s one of many to benefit from instrument donations organised by Music for Refugees. The group’s CEO, Philip Feinstein, 76, has been running programs for asylum seekers since 2009 and is appealing for more donations.

Feinstein said he would like to see a more humane approach to Australia’s immigration detainees.

‘Everything else disappears’: How music brings relief in detention centres. By Penry Buckley, Sydney Morning Herald

Taliban further restricts women's voices with ban on praying aloud in front of other women. By Libby Hogan, ABC News

The Taliban has extended restrictions on Afghan women's voices by banning them from praying loudly or reciting the Koran in front of other women.

The move — which comes after the hardline religious group in August forbade women from speaking in public — has sparked further condemnation from activists and rights organisations.

Taliban further restricts women's voices with ban on praying aloud in front of other women. By Libby Hogan, ABC News

Jason Clare is wrong on net migration and student caps. By Abul Rizvi, Pearls & Irritations

If student caps at current levels are to be made the dominant driver of student visa processing, the student contribution to net migration would remain well above pre-pandemic levels and well above Treasury forecasts for 2024-25. Students would be a major driver of net migration in 2024-25 which is likely to come in at around 350,000 to 375,000.

That will be completely contrary to Jason Clare’s recent assertion. Treasury is likely to confirm that when it updates its net migration forecast later this year and again ahead of the 2025 Election.

Jason Clare is wrong on net migration and student caps. By Abul Rizvi, Pearls & Irritations

The Punjabi Sikhs of Woolgoolga. By Sophie Johnson, ABC News

When thinking of large Punjabi Sikh population groups, the small coastal town of Woolgoolga in New South Wales may not be the first place that comes to mind.

But with 25 per cent of the 6,000-strong population descending from India and the town having a rich agricultural and migration history, it boasts one of Australia’s largest Sikh communities.

The Punjabi Sikhs of Woolgoolga. By Sophie Johnson, ABC News

Calls for changes to Australia's citizenship test after Thai migrant fails five times. By Charlie McLean, ABC Pilbara News

The struggle of a Thai migrant in a remote Western Australian mining town to pass Australia's citizenship test has sparked claims the exam is too hard.

Since the test's English standards were raised in 2020, the first-time pass rate has fallen by around 10 per cent, and it is taking people more attempts to pass.

Calls for changes to Australia's citizenship test after Thai migrant fails five times. By Charlie McLean, ABC Pilbara News

The real threat to refugees like me is politicians who give the green light to neo-Nazis. By Rathy Barthlote, Crikey

I am one of the organisers of the 100-day refugee encampment in front of the Department of Home Affairs office in Melbourne. I am a refugee from Sri Lanka, a mother of two, a disability support worker and a proud union member. My family and I are part of the community in every way, except for our visa status.  

Our protest was to demand justice for the 8,500 people who, like us, have been failed by the former Coalition government’s “fast track” asylum process. We have suffered 12 years of uncertainty because of an unfair system that has now been abolished. As victims of that system, we deserve justice and visa equality.

Last Tuesday night, we packed up our encampment and held a final, peaceful rally through the streets of Melbourne. There were about 700 of us, our families, our friends and supporters.   

The real threat to refugees like me is politicians who give the green light to neo-Nazis. By Rathy Barthlote, Crikey

Australian PM Albanese rejects Chinese claim his country is ‘plagued’ by racism. Morning Star

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected accusations from Beijing that his country is “plagued by systemic racism and hate crimes.”

Beijing spoke out after an Australian diplomat led a group of Western nations in making unsubstantiated claims about human rights violations in China.

Australian PM Albanese rejects Chinese claim his country is ‘plagued’ by racism. Morning Star