Immigration, refugees
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Asylum policy in UK and Australia – a tale of two nations
In these two nations, the backlog of asylum applications and that of refused asylum seekers who have not departed is remarkably similar (see Table 1). But debate on the matter in the two countries is very different…. Continue reading »
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Proposed English language testing of Australian sponsors and partners
In the 2020 Budget, former Acting Immigration Minister Tudge announced the Government would introduce English language testing for partner visas – that is when an Australian sponsors their non-Australian partner to become an Australian permanent resident…. Continue reading »
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UK introduces Australian-style asylum system
Boris Johnson insists radical plans to reshape the way the United Kingdom treats asylum seekers are lawful, even as government lawyers prepare for a raft of legal challenges arising from the decision to create a two-tier system discriminating against ‘boat people’…. Continue reading »
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An immigration agenda for new home affairs minister Andrews
Peter Dutton’s transfer to Defence Minister and appointment of Karen Andrews as the new Home Affairs Minister provides her with an extraordinary array of Dutton inspired problems she could readily fix…. Continue reading »
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So many questions for Home Affairs
How did a backlog of around 100,000 partner visa applications develop when the Migration Act clearly states it is illegal to limit the number of partner visas? When the Department of Employment undertake a systemic investigation into the 22 deaths of seasonal worker visa holders? Why have we significantly tightened legal criteria for all other… Continue reading »
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Australia’s ‘rule of law’ system leaves millions unprotected: Part 2
Part 1 discussed the role of law-makers (parliamentarians) and law-implementers (public servants). Part 2 discusses the role of law-interpreters (judges) and law-enforcers, including a non-regulating regulator, Comcare. … Continue reading »
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Australia’s ‘rule of law system’ leaves millions unprotected: Part 1
The rule of law ‘system’ is not an amorphous single entity – government – but involves law-makers (such as prime ministers and other ministers), law-implementers, law-interpreters, and law enforcers. Their work has left unprotected several million vulnerable people. How? This part covers law-makers and law-implementers…. Continue reading »
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Replacing Cruelty to Refugees with Aspirations from 1948
If politicians re-learn the principles which dignified the rule-based order, launched in 1948 with passing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this should affect the chances that 2021 will not see a repeat of the cruelties of 2020…. Continue reading »
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We have lost our way on immigration and multiculturalism
On this question of the settlement of newcomers into Australia it’s pretty evident that we’ve lost the plot…. Continue reading »
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Immigration detention in 2020: don’t look away
Grief, happiness, outrage: they all diminish with the passage of time. The bright colours of emotion dull as we become accustomed to new realities. I remember the shock when I first visited the immigration detention centre at Villawood almost two decades ago…. Continue reading »
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Scott Morrison, where are you? Eight years is too long
For the past three months, rain or shine, a small, sad group of anywhere between 14 to 28 men meet outside Milsons Point railway station every Sunday at midday to march to and demonstrate at the gates of Kirribilli House. They deserve to be heard…. Continue reading »
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Biden plans to reopen America to refugees after Trump slashed admissions (NPR Nov 11, 2020)
President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to reassert America’s commitment to refugees after the Trump White House’s slashing of the resettlement program, part of the current president’s anti-immigration drive…. Continue reading »
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Will President-elect Biden restore US leadership on refugees?
Biden told the audience of JRS supporters: ‘The United States has long stood as a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and the oppressed, a leader in resettling refugees and our humanitarian response. I promise, as president, I’ll reclaim that proud legacy for our country.’… Continue reading »
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Chris Sidoti. Will I go back to Mass?
Now that the lockdown has eased and public worship is resuming, a prominent Catholic in Australia wonders if it’s really worth going back to church…. Continue reading »
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Home Affairs is too heavy handed to handle immigration
The 2020 Budget highlighted the dependence of Australia’s economic growth on a continually rising population. The Covid-19 border restrictions have caused negative net migration for the first time in more than a century. In a double whammy, the pandemic-induced anxieties have caused a drop in annual births per woman from 1.69 to 1.58…. Continue reading »
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Migration in reverse in September 2020
Net international movements in September 2020 were negative 33,270, a reduction on the August 2020 outcome of negative 45,610…. Continue reading »
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Migrants: how can we make THEM more like US?
In a crisis, the Coalition government thinks that migrants need to jump through higher hoops…. Continue reading »
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Why Was Immigration Compliance Activity Tanking Pre-Covid?
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and his Department Secretary Mike Pezzullo are well known for their gratuitous cruelty. But does that mean they have been effective at maintaining immigration compliance and control?… Continue reading »
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Amnesty for Undocumented Workers
The ABC reports the Government is looking into an amnesty for undocumented workers to help address a shortage of farm workers…. Continue reading »
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Australian multiculturalism is a success story: it is time to enshrine it as our shared value
What makes Australia unique and special is the ability to celebrate one’s ethnicity and cultural heritage in an Australian setting. I am able to call myself a Chinese-Australian and Asian-Australian without having my loyalty questioned and allegiance to Australia judged…. Continue reading »
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Forecast of 2020-21 Migration and Humanitarian Program
Australian governments have always cut the immigration intake in response to a recession. The 2020-21 intake will be no different. While the Government may announce a ‘ceiling’ that is not much below that for 2019-20, the actual planning level, which may well remain secret, will be well below the ceiling…. Continue reading »
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“Help!” trumpets the elephant, “I’m being bullied by a mouse.”
The ‘elephant’ is Peter Dutton’s mega Department of Home Affairs; the ‘mouse’ is the mobile phone of an immigration detainee…. Continue reading »
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Temporary Entrants Continue to ‘Go Home’ in July 2020
The Prime Minister’s call for temporary entrants to ‘go home’ continued to be effective in July 2020 with a net loss of temporary entrants of 34,830 in July 2020…. Continue reading »
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Australia can’t rely on overseas migration anymore Mr. Treasurer
The Government’s July Economic Statement forecasts net overseas migration in 2020-21 will be around 31,000 – the lowest since 1975-76 and a dramatic contrast to the fanciful levels of net overseas migration forecast in the 2019 Budget. … Continue reading »
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Covid Driving Down Onshore Asylum Applications
Closure of international borders has reduced the onshore asylum application rate but we still have almost 87,000 asylum seekers in Australia, the vast bulk of whom are from countries where asylum claims are not likely to be strong…. Continue reading »
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Prospects for refugees and migrants if the population bomb goes bust
The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) says that the UN projections up to 2100 for global population growth are about 2 billion too high, because fertility rates almost everywhere are dropping much faster than expected…. Continue reading »
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Issues with the Chinese diaspora’s political participation
Australia’s public diplomacy agenda does not seem to have translated into concrete policies in regard to the Chinese diaspora, argues this excerpt from a submission to a current Senate inquiry…. Continue reading »
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Multicultural Australia in danger in resurgent pandemic. Part 2 What we know but need to know more about and why.
The national medical bureaucracy needs to make one change to its data collection about COVID-19 that will be disruptive in the short term but very productive in the medium and longer term. It may save lives, reduce morbidity, protect social cohesion and help save the economy. But it hasn’t. Why is that?… Continue reading »
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Multicultural Australia in danger in resurgent pandemic. Part 1: The problem
A dark hole sits at the heart of multicultural Australia – the data by-pass on how the COVID19 virus pandemic is affecting our culturally diverse communities. … Continue reading »
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What is to be done about the Chinese in Oz?
During the last Federal elections, our political leaders went on WeChat, to impress the PRC émigrés. They seemed not to care about the feelings of the huayi Aussies who have mostly come here since 1951…. Continue reading »
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