Julia Gillard’s devotion to the establishment of a regional refugee processing centre in East Timor appears unwavering. Last week she reiterated her commitment to the proposal in discussions with East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao. The proposal stands as the centrepiece of the Government’s border protection policy – a policy focused on stemming the influx
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The third Scanlon Foundation Survey, entitled Mapping Social Cohesion, was released last week. Authored by Professor Andrew Markus of Monash University, the report charts the attitudes of Australians around a number of population issues. The survey’s exploration of Australian attitudes towards refugees and asylum seekers makes for interesting reading. The results highlight the gulf in
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On 10th September, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) issued a media release stating that 34 school-aged children currently detained in Darwin would begin attending classes the following Monday after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between itself and the Northern Territory Department of Education and Training. The NT News picked up
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When Professor Louise Newman took the unprecedented step of speaking out plainly on Lateline last week about the impending mental health crisis in Immigration detention centres, the reaction was zero. As the antipathy towards asylum seekers grows, carefully nurtured through successive elections by our politicians, Australia is reaching a position which allows any cruelty and
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If the Scherger Air Base becomes an Immigration Detention Centre (IDC), the people most likely to be locked up there are Hazara people from Afghanistan. Hazaras are a minority group in Afghanistan who have been persecuted for centuries but more recently this has degenerated to a form of genocide under the Taliban. Hazaras are readily
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