Will Pekanbaru become Indonesia’s Cox’s Bazar? By Nino Viartasiwi & Antje Missbach, New Mandala

While Aceh used to be a rather welcoming place for Rohingya refugees, from late 2023 onwards their disembarkations were met with strong rejection from the local population, causing some boats to remain offshore for several days or move on to other sites where local people were more welcoming. Many have wondered what might have caused the drastic shift from hospitality to hostility and indeed many factors have contributed to this swift.

Will Pekanbaru become Indonesia’s Cox’s Bazar? By Nino Viartasiwi & Antje Missbach, New Mandala

Denigrating refugees: Media Watch is no exception By Peter Job, P&I

Australian citizens and residents who originally came to this country seeking asylum, as they are clearly entitled to do under international law, have been in the news recently, through no fault of their own and not in a good way. Sections of the media and some politicians have attacked them for doing what all citizens and residents have a right to do, that is to bring their partners and close relatives to Australia.

The ABC’s Media Watch program commendably took up this issue on 3 February under its new presenter Linton Besser. While there are certainly positive aspects to the Media Watch coverage, anyone with an understanding of fundamental refugee rights should be concerned by the way the program framed the issue, to the point of perpetuating misconceptions. To understand this, it is worthwhile having a look at Australian actions and policies towards refugees in the past few decades.

Denigrating refugees: Media Watch is no exception By Peter Job, P&I

Offshore health crisis deepens: Advocates call on Labor to reinstate Medevac legislation, ASRC

Doctors and human rights organisations, including the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) and Amnesty International, have today backed the reintroduction of the Medevac legislation, calling it a vital lifeline for refugees and people seeking asylum abandoned by the Australian Government in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Nauru, where a worsening health crisis requires immediate action.

Offshore health crisis deepens: Advocates call on Labor to reinstate Medevac legislation, ASRC

Climate impacts are forcing people from their homes. When, how and why do they have valid refugee claims? By Jane McAdam, The Conversation

..And the impacts of climate change and disasters are not indiscriminate – they affect people in different ways. Factors such as age, gender, disability and health can intersect to create particular risk of persecution for particular individuals or communities.

For example, a person who is a member of a minority may find their government is withholding disaster relief from them. Or, climate or disaster impacts may end up exacerbating inter-communal conflicts, putting certain people at heightened risk of persecution.

Now, we have a much more nuanced understanding of things. Refugee law (and complementary protection under human rights law) do have a role to play in assessing the claims of people affected by climate change…

Climate impacts are forcing people from their homes. When, how and why do they have valid refugee claims? By Jane McAdam, The Conversation

How Australia plans to connect 600,000 skilled foreign workers and the industries desperate for them. By Dan Jervis-Bardy, The Guardian

A disconnected, complex and costly system for recognising overseas qualifications is blamed for preventing or delaying skilled migrants working in their chosen field in Australia.

As the federal election nears, a broad coalition of organisations spanning unions and employer groups is ramping up pressure on the major parties to fix the “skills mismatch” to unlock an estimated $9bn in economic benefits.

And new research suggests the public is on board.

How Australia plans to connect 600,000 skilled foreign workers and the industries desperate for them. By Dan Jervis-Bardy, The Guardian

Justice at last for children detained on Nauru, says RACS, UNSW

Following this ruling from the UN, two critical steps are required in order to secure justice for the children whose human rights were violated. Firstly, the Australian Government should follow the UN’s recommendation to promptly compensate the young people for violating their human rights. Secondly, the Australian Government should provide permanent protection in Australia for the handful of unaccompanied minors and others who are still, after many years, on bridging visas in Australia, many with no pathways to resettlement.

“The UN’s ruling recognises the suffering of the young people who lost their childhoods to Australia’s cruel immigration system,” Ms Dale (RACS) said. “The Australian Government must now respond by providing certainty and residency to these young people who, all these years later, remain in limbo, on bridging visas, despite being refugees owed protection by Australia.”

Justice at last for children detained on Nauru, says RACS, UNSW

Turned away by Australia and rejected by Trump, these refugees have been living in limbo for 12 years. By Niv Sadrolodabaee & Carl Dixon, SBS News

"Every day, we are waiting for an update, 13 years of waiting. We are experiencing a slow death," Nikki says.

"We have lost our years, we are facing health issues, and we face thousands of challenges every day."

According to a report by UNSW's Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, for these refugees "there is no clear way to leave. Returning to the country of origin is impossible; (the chance of) third-country resettlement is remote; and surviving in Indonesia is very difficult".

"The conditions are really, really dire for the 14,000 refugees who are waiting in Indonesia, which is what makes [Australia's] decisions to stop resettling refugees from Indonesia even more cruel," Favero says.

"Australia has a really critical role in our region to provide safety to refugees so that they can rebuild their lives.

"One of the first steps has to be by lifting the ban on resettling refugees from Indonesia."

Turned away by Australia and rejected by Trump, these refugees have been living in limbo for 12 years. By Niv Sadrolodabaee & Carl Dixon, SBS News

Trump just dressed up ethnic cleansing as a real estate opportunity, and blew up ‘America First’. By Matthew Knott, SMH

As Australian National University professor Don Rothwell, a leading expert on international law, quickly stated: Trump’s idea would represent a crime against humanity, with the forced removal of Palestinian children quite possibly constituting an act of genocide under the Genocide Convention. The US, Rothwell noted, had no legal right to control Palestinians in Gaza.

Trump just dressed up ethnic cleansing as a real estate opportunity, and blew up ‘America First’. By Matthew Knott, SMH

If this terrorised American feels like fleeing, I think Australia should welcome him. By Jenna Price, The Canberra Times

How would it be if we offered refuge to citizens of the United States? I mean, we don't normally consider that we need to offer asylum to those from countries with values like ours, at least what used to be values like ours.

I'm thinking, in particular, Anthony Fauci, who was part of the White House COVID taskforce and who stood up to Trump during those horrific early years of the pandemic. Because, obviously, a real estate agent and reality TV hack would know more about infectious diseases than a doctor and a scholar. Trump's treatment of Fauci trained an entire generation of cookers, aka conspiracy theorists, to threaten and harass.

If this terrorised American feels like fleeing, I think Australia should welcome him. By Jenna Price, The Canberra Times

This language has a rich history in Australia but it's at risk of disappearing forever. By Charis Chang, SBS News

While once the most common Chinese language in Australia, Cantonese has been overtaken by a standard version of Mandarin used as China's official language since the 1950s.

Today, Cantonese is spoken mostly in Hong Kong, Macau and parts of south-eastern China. It's also widely used by the Chinese diaspora around the world, particularly in Vietnam and Malaysia.

Josephine Chau says that over the years she has come to understand how important the language is for connection to culture.

“Australia is multicultural and if we don't remember some of where our ancestors come from, it's very easy to forget that we were all new to this country at some point, and to just appreciate the differences that we have, and also the similarities.”

This language has a rich history in Australia but it's at risk of disappearing forever. By Charis Chang, SBS News

How an error kicked off asylum-seeker visa misinformation. By Michael Workman, ABC News

On Tuesday, News Corp titles inaccurately reported that the Albanese government had issued more than 20,000 visas to the families and partners of asylum seekers who arrived by boat.

The true figure was one tenth of this.

The false figure was reported by other mainstream media outlets and fuelled conspiracy theories online.

How an error kicked off asylum-seeker visa misinformation. By Michael Workman, ABC News

The Afghanistan Women's Cricket team have played together for the first time — but the match was so much more than a game. By James Vyver, ABC News

"This hasn't been only a game for all of us," team member Firooza Amiri said from the grounds.

"It's been to represent and be [a] voice of millions of women's fight in Afghanistan."

The Afghanistan Women's Cricket team have played together for the first time — but the match was so much more than a game. By James Vyver, ABC News

What is Dan Tehan and the Coalition offering on asylum seeker policy? By Abul Rizvi, P&I

As the overall number of asylum seekers in Australia continues to rise and is now over 120,000, Shadow Immigration Spokesperson Dan Tehan regularly criticises the Labor Government for not doing enough to get control of asylum seeker numbers. But with a Federal Election just months away, we do not know what either the Coalition or Labor will do to get on top of the issue.

Knowing Peter Dutton’s abysmal record on immigration integrity, including allowing the biggest labour trafficking scam in Australia’s history, Tehan has to tread carefully. While Tehan says “Australians will be cynical that Labor is serious about addressing this problem”, he avoids mentioning Dutton’s record or what a Coalition Government should have done when it was in power or would do in the future.

What is Dan Tehan and the Coalition offering on asylum seeker policy? By Abul Rizvi, P&I

Community leaders, advocates and sporting superstars among this year's Queensland Australia Day honourees. ABC News

Mrs Abraham was born in Eritrea, where she became a freedom fighter in the country's war for independence against Ethiopia at just 14-years-old. After years of fighting, she moved to Australia as a refugee in 1992.

Over the last three decades, Mrs Abraham has also helped create dozens of multicultural initiatives, including the Queensland Eritrean Community Association, the Australian African Women's Association and the Queensland African Communities Council.

She said she felt "humbled" to receive an OAM for her work with vulnerable people.

Community leaders, advocates and sporting superstars among this year's Queensland Australia Day honourees. ABC News

Auschwitz survivors warn of rising antisemitism 80 years on from the camp's liberation. Reuters, SBS

Auschwitz survivors have warned of the dangers of rising antisemitism as they marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German death camp by Soviet troops in one of the last such gatherings of those who experienced its horrors.

In all, between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered six million Jews across German-occupied Europe, along with gypsies, sexual minorities, people with disability and others who offended Nazi ideas of racial superiority.
Auschwitz survivors warn of rising antisemitism 80 years on from the camp's liberation. Reuters, SBS