Immigration, refugees
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ABUL RIZVI: Morrison’s Mixed Messages on Migration
A string of immigration related articles in The Australian on 5 September 2019 and on 7 September 2019 again dutifully conveyed the Government’s mixed messages on immigration policy without asking a single question about the inherent inconsistencies and loss of control over Australia’s visa system. The Government continues to promote three very separate messages on… Continue reading »
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PETER HUGHES. The Sri Lankan family – just a case of bloody mindedness
We await further operation of Federal Court processes before the future of the Sri Lankan family being held on Christmas Island is finally known. In the meantime, it’s worth reflecting on why the government has chosen to take such a hard line on this family…. Continue reading »
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REBECCA TAN. How a conservative town in Australia set aside politics to rally for a family facing deportation (The Washington Post, 5 Sep. 2019)
Biloela, population 6,000, is a rural town in northeast Australia. When the town’s first — and only — set of traffic lights was built 10 years ago, residents were sent into a tizzy. Many families still work in coal mines or cotton farms. On weekends, people fish…. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. The continuing litany of lies on boat arrivals and border protection.
I am sorry if I keep repeating what I have been saying for four years but when will we finally accept that we have been consistently conned and lied to about boat arrivals and border protection for a long time. Our national policies on asylum seekers have been built on the shifting sands of government… Continue reading »
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Dysfunction in Home Affairs officially confirmed
The dysfunction in the Home Affairs Department that has been long reported on (see here, here, and here) has now been officially confirmed in a survey conducted by the Australian Public Service Commission…. Continue reading »
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MAX COSTELLO. It was the best of days; it was the worst of days
July 30, 2019 was the best of days for Australia’s immigration detention centre detainees because, at last, a mainstream media outlet revealed that their cruel maltreatment involved apparent criminal offences under Australian law. It was the worst of days, because it revealed that the law’s regulator had not charged Home Affairs over an emblematic asylum… Continue reading »
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ABUL RIZVI: Government Responds to Dutton’s Visa Chaos on Asylum Seekers
The Government has at last responded to the chaos in our visa system. In response to a question from Senator Keneally, Senator Linda Reynolds has suggested the bridging visa backlog is apparently due to an unexpected surge in visa applications that caught Home Affairs off-guard. Also, in 2018-19 there has been a 12 percent fall… Continue reading »
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BOB DOUGLAS. Changing Australian Refugee Policy: What is realistically and politically feasible?
Is there a new spirit of bipartisanship developing between Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese? As well as discussing a bipartisan approach to the legislation of religious freedom and an indigenous “voice”, might they also consider a new bipartisan approach to refugee policy?… Continue reading »
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ABUL RIZVI: Government reveals details of its net overseas migration (NOM) forecast
The Government has at last revealed some details of its 2019 Budget forecast for a record breaking level of sustained NOM. The key is a significant increase in the net contribution from temporary visa holders. This would mean the current stock of around 2 million temporary entrants in our population must rise even more rapidly…. Continue reading »
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Thai police seize 51 Pakistani Christian asylum seekers (UCANEWS Reporter, Bangkok, 8 July 2019)
Thai authorities in Bangkok have arrested 51 Pakistani Christian asylum seekers in an incident that has reignited fears among the city’s Christian refugees of another immigration crackdown on illegal immigrants. According to eyewitnesses, immigration authorities arriving in two police vans pulled up outside a low-rent apartment building in Bearing Soi 7 in eastern Bangkok where several Pakistani… Continue reading »
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FRANK BRENNAN. Australia and the refugees who come by boat
We have now all endured our third election in a row when boat turnbacks and the punitive treatment of refugees and asylum seekers featured. The overwhelming majority of our politicians and the overwhelming majority of voters are agreed that the boats from Indonesia carrying asylum seekers transiting Indonesia should be stopped, and the refugees and… Continue reading »
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LISA MARTIN. Tampa refugee taken in by New Zealand wins Fulbright scholarship (The Guardian)
‘Given the chance at a new life, we have grabbed it with both hands,’ Abbas Nazari says. … Continue reading »
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JANE McADAM An evidence based refugee policy agenda
Summary A successful refugee policy not only manages national borders but also protects people who need safety, and demonstrates leadership in meeting the global challenge of displacement. That’s why the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law has set out an independent, nonpartisan, evidence-based refugee policy agenda, challenging policymakers and the public to reimagine Australia’s current… Continue reading »
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ABUL RIZVI: Chaos in our Visa System Continues
New Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, Kristina Keneally and Shadow Immigration Minister have signalled they intend to hold the Government to account for the chaos in our visa system. This article updates some of the data on that chaos which confirms Home Affairs continues to struggle. The Department’s funding over the next few years, together… Continue reading »
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MICHAEL PASCOE. Bridging visas soar by 147 per cent under Coalition (New Daily, 31.05.19)
Other than claims that people smugglers wanted Labor to win, immigration and population issues flew under the radar during the election campaign – which may have been fortunate for the government…. Continue reading »
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ANTHONY PUN. Metamorphosis of the Immigration Department to a fatal progeny?
This article relies on the materials provided by two distinguished former Deputy Secretaries of the Immigration Department in their building of the people’s immigration department and their disappointment over the last two decades. As an active community advocate on immigration matters, I also have been involved with the department over a period of 40 years…. Continue reading »
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ABUL RIZVI. The loss of control of our air borders and with the AAT drowning
The backlog of migration and asylum cases at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) reached a record 57,597 at end April 2019. That includes an astonishing 19,469 applications for asylum. The AAT is drowning. With the Dutton/Pezzullo engineered chaos in our visa system and loss of control of our air borders (see here and here), the… Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. A Repost: The facts on boat arrivals that the media won’t face.
From September 2015, almost four years ago, Peter Hughes and I have pointed out repeatedly that Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison triggered the surge in boat arrivals from September 2011 and did not stop the boats as they claim from December 2013 when Operation Sovereign Borders commenced…. Continue reading »
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ABUL RIZVI. Is the Immigration and Customs Merger an Irretrievable Disaster?
Merger of Immigration and Customs and eventual incorporation into a wider Home Affairs Department has been an extraordinary disaster, at least for the immigration side of things. Whoever wins Government will face a Herculean task to fix things up. Reinstatement of a standalone immigration department, incorporating the traditional immigration functions, may be the only viable… Continue reading »
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ABUL RIZVI. Partner Visas – A Lesser Known Dutton Scandal
At end June 2018, the Government had allowed a backlog of over 80,000 Partner visa applications to build up. These are overseas-born people who are married to, or intend to marry, Australian citizens or permanent residents. Rather than take steps to deal with the backlog, Dutton started to cut down on the number of Partner… Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Scott Morrison claims again quite wrongly that he stopped the boats. (ABC News 30.4.2019)
In the leaders’ debate in Perth, Scott Morrison said: “I fashioned a policy to deal with [boat arrivals in Australia] and we fixed it.” … Continue reading »
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ABUL RIZVI: Government cuts permanent migration program but forecasts net migration to rise (Part 2)
Government has cut the migration program ceiling from 190,000 to 160,000 per annum but at the same time is forecasting net migration to rise from 241,700 in 2017 to 259,600 in 2018 and 271,700 in 2019. This was after it forecast a steady decline in net migration in the 2018 Budget. This is likely the… Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. The Greens– good policies and poor politics.
The Greens have correctly directed criticism at the cruel policies of the ALP and the Coalition on refugees in Manus and Nauru. They are also rightly critical of the major parties on climate change.But on both issues the Greens have not been very helpful …. Continue reading »
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ABUL RIZVI: Government cuts permanent migration program but forecasts net migration to rise (Part 1)
Government has cut the migration program ceiling from 190,000 to 160,000 per annum but at the same time is forecasting net migration to rise from 241,700 in 2017 to 259,600 in 2018 and 271,700 in 2019. This was after it forecast a steady decline in net migration in the 2018 Budget. This is likely the… Continue reading »
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ABUL RIZVI. Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton have lost control of our borders.
Chaos in our visa system and extraordinary border control failures are being exploited by people smugglers to deliver record numbers of non-genuine asylum seekers arriving by air. The Coalition pretends we only have sea borders and can ignore our air borders. Yet Australia is sleep-walking into replicating the experience of Europe and the USA with… Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Easter and the banality of evil. An edited repost
Our policies towards asylum seekers that are cruel,evil and immoral,depend on our first dehumanising and then demonising them. Ministers,even the Prime Minister have recently reminded us that some of them are rapists and murderers.They infer that they are not like us and do not deserve empathy and protection. It is an attempt to chloroform our… Continue reading »
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ELAINE PEARSON. Australian Children are Trapped in Syria and the Government Must Bring Them Home (Human Rights Watch)
An ABC Four Corners investigation has exposed the callous indifference of Australian officials over the return of Australian children held without charge in foreign camps for families of Islamic State members…. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Appealing to our Better Angels. A repost from 30 June 2011
In an appeal to Secessionists in his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln appealed to ‘the better angels of our nature’. Today we lack the bi-partisan leadership on refugees that would appeal to our better angels. I have yet to hear Julia Gillard make an informed case for generosity towards refugees who are amongst the most… Continue reading »
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RICHARD FLANAGAN. Have we, Australia, become a country that breeds mass murderers with our words? (The Guardian 14.4.2019)
We are better than our politicians’ dark fears. We are not their hate. We are optimistic about a country built on openness. … Continue reading »
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ABUL RIZVI. New regional visas – a recipe for exploitation and destitution.
The Government’s new regional migration arrangements make it easier for potential migrants with lower skill levels and limited English to access temporary residence via low paid jobs in regional Australia. At the same time, the government is making it significantly more difficult for these people to secure permanent residence. This is a recipe for more… Continue reading »
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