Immigration, refugees
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The Flow of Asylum Seekers to Australia follows world trends. John Menadue
The Australian Parliamentary Library has just released a Research Paper showing that the flow of asylum seekers to Australia since 1999 follows the trends of asylum flows to OECD countries generally. Reading the Australian media one would think that we have a problem with asylum seekers that no other country has. At the Centre for… Continue reading »
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Confusion and Contradiction on Asylum Seekers in the Community. John Menadue
Arja Keski-Nummi and I have described the services and lack of them for the 12,000 asylum seekers living in the community as ‘Kafkaesque’. The policies and rules concerning these asylum seekers have no sense or logic. Some are living in the community on bridging visas with work rights and some without work rights. Boat arrivals… Continue reading »
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Asylum Seekers and Paedophiles. John Menadue
In my blog of March 5 I spoke about the demonization of asylum seekers by Scott Morrison. He has variously alleged that they bring disease, wads of cash and jewellery. He has also called for the registration of asylum seekers moving into a residential area. But Senator Abetz has gone even further. He made it… Continue reading »
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Let them Work. John Menadue
Last month, Bruce Kaye (guest blogger) and I wrote articles about the need for a change of government policy to allow asylum seekers to work. This is important for their dignity and self-respect and their integration into the Australian community. It would also be less costly to the Australian taxpayer and the Australian community. Today… Continue reading »
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Prejudice compounded by ignorance. John Menadue
The Scott Morrisons and Ray Hadleys of this world have had a field day vilifying one asylum seeker living in the community who came by boat. The prejudice is bad enough, but their ignorance is just as appalling. In the last ten years, 65,000 asylum seekers came to Australia. 47,000, or 72% of them, came… Continue reading »
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‘I was a stranger and you took me in.’
‘I was a stranger and you took me in’ (Matthew 25) Well not really, according to Scott Morrison. In her article in the SMH on 3 November 2012, Jane Cadzow describes Scott Morrison as ‘a devout Christian who worships at Shirelive, an American style Pentecostal Church. The Shirelive website says its members believe the Bible… Continue reading »
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The Greens and Asylum Seekers. How the ‘perfect’ became the enemy of the ‘good’.
The policy ‘purity’ of the Greens has helped deliver us Nauru and Manus where asylum seekers are suffering. Furthermore, and as the former Secretary of the Department of Immigration told us last year, the Nauru/Manus approach would not work again to deter asylum seekers. That now seems tragically borne out by more tragedies at sea… Continue reading »
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Work rights for asylum seekers. Guest blogger: Bruce Kaye
Having had direct experience of asylum seeker hosting it has become obvious at the ground level that the ‘no work’ policy introduced in August last year by the Federal Government is creating confusion and misery for the asylum seekers and frustration and despair for those involved in hosting. As citizens, my wife and I are… Continue reading »
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The asylum seekers that we don’t talk about
In the last ten years, 65,000 asylum seekers have come to Australia. 47,000 or 72% of those came by air. Only 28% came by boat. In the last five years, we received 47,000 asylum seekers, of whom 28,000 or 62% came by air. Only 38% came by boat. In only one year, in the last… Continue reading »
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Minister! Let them work.
There is a growing number of asylum seekers living in the community who are not allowed to work. The new Minister, Brendan O’Connor, could put his stamp on the portfolio by immediately making a decision to allow almost all asylum seekers to work. The present policy of denial of work is cruel, denies the dignity… Continue reading »
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New leadership on Asylum seekers
Yesterday, Crikey published an article by Arja Keski-Nummi and me on the opportunities for the new Minister for Immigration to break the impasse on asylum seekers. You can find it at my website johnmenadue.com…. Continue reading »
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