The announcement by the Gillard Government that asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia will be granted Bridging Visas to live in the community heralds the beginning of a more humane approach towards asylum seekers. An approach that has been advocated for by academics, human rights defenders, grassroots organizations, medical and mental health experts, religious
Read moreThe detention system in Australia is broken. Last night’s Four Corners program showed graphically how the current detention policy is destroying people’s mental health. There is a solution. It is being done in a small way right now. The ASRC is calling for an immediate extension of onshore, community based processing. We are doing it
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Contrary to the spin of the Gillard Government that their ‘Migration Legislation Amendment (Offshore Processing and Other Measures) Bill 2011 strikes a balance between ‘national interests’ and human rights, the reality is these proposed new laws are dangerous. They pose a grave threat to what we hold dear as a democratic country – natural justice,
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The Gillard Government’s ‘Migration Legislation Amendment (Offshore Processing and Other Measures) Bill 2011 breaches all the key legal obligations we have as a signatory under the Refugee Convention contrary to the Prime Minister’s claims. What this law breaches under the Refugee Convention Article 16: Access to Courts These legislative amendments provide no legal guarantee of
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So what is the Gillard Government wanting to do? The Gillard Government does not want to accept the decision of the umpire, our High Court, so it wants to change the law to do what has been deemed illegal by our high Court, namely to send asylum seekers to danger in Malaysia. How are they
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