The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) welcomes the Government’s announcement today of plans to release the majority of unaccompanied children and families deemed to be ‘at risk’ from detention into the community by June 2011. The release of some children and families will make a significant positive difference to their welfare. However, there are many
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Last week Immigration Minister Chris Bowen announced the immediate lifting of the six month freeze imposed in April on the processing of Afghan asylum seekers. The decision was cautiously welcomed by UNHCR and other refugee advocates, yet they also warned against praising the government for ending a policy that should not have been introduced in
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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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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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As part of its 2010 immigration election platform, the Liberal Party announced that it would reintroduce the ‘45-day rule’ for onshore protection applicants. The 45-day rule (which came into force in 1997 and subsequently abolished by the Labor Party in 2007) required asylum seekers who had arrived in the country legally by plane and on
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