By Pamela Curr The family arrived at the house on a cold afternoon. The electricity was not yet connected and they had no furniture, not even beds for the parents and their three children under 9 years. They had one phone number. The Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project took their call and responded, setting off across
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By Pamela Curr One child’s life in Melbourne. He repeated the words “Court House” and was puzzled as he looked at the small simple white building in a street of houses in the back streets of Coburg. I explained that long ago this was a Court House but not any longer. He then told me
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By Pamela Curr Yet another realignment on refugee policy is rearing its head. If the boats cannot be stopped or turned around, the rules must be changed. Senator Carr claims that the Labor government needs to change the process of assessing the status of refugees because an overwhelming majority of applications is approved. “We’ve reached
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Since the end of the 20- year civil war between the Singhalese and the Tamils in 2009, there has been a surge in Sri Lankans who fear persecution by the Sri Lankan government seeking refuge in Australia. In response to the increase of Tamil Asylum Seekers in particular the government has implemented a policy of
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When the government this week announced the federal budget for 2013/14, one set of numbers was always going to grab the headlines. Treasury has forecast an increase in spending on detaining and processing asylum seekers to the tune of $3.2 billion over the next four years. This brings the total cost to over $8 billion
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