While the case turns on a narrow question of Australian constitutional law, it also raises urgent concerns about the human consequences of a flawed and discriminatory “fast-track” legal process for determining the status of asylum seekers who arrive by boat.
Five Labor MPs call for wholesale changes to their government's migration bill. By Tom Crowley, ABC News
Three federal Labor MPs and two Labor senators have joined calls for large chunks of their own government's migration bill to be scrapped.
They say the bill, which would broaden the immigration minister's powers to force deportations, limits "numerous" human rights.
The comments were made by the parliament's human rights committee, which is tasked with scrutinising all bills to assess compatibility with Australia's human rights obligations.
Labor has the casting vote on the committee and five of its 10 members: committee chair Josh Burns, Alicia Payne, Graham Perrett and senators Karen Grogan and Jana Stewart.
Australia’s Border Farce. Stops a boat, ignores the planeloads, targets the 0.05%. By Duncan Graham, Michael West Media
The men who stepped onto the sovereign sands of their dream nation are said to have been arrested by ABF operatives who rushed north at the weekend to staunch the invasion. The prisoners were apparently whisked to Nauru for processing before refugee lawyers could blow in their ears.
If the unwelcome arrivals are Chinese Nationals, as believed, they’ll probably be sent back to their homeland. Runaways from the Middle Kingdom making it to the Lucky Country are rare. Past risk-takers have come from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Myanmar after spending stateless years in Indonesia, a nation that doesn’t settle refugees.
About 12,000 are in this situation mainly hanging around Jakarta and surviving on handouts from the UN High Commission for Refugees.
'Rather go to Gaza than Iran': High Court hears man fears certain death if deported. By Sara Tomevska, SBS
Solicitor-general Stephen Donaghue labelled assertions that the Commonwealth had failed to remove ASF17 to a third country as "perplexing".
"We actually did try to find somewhere else, but unsurprisingly for a citizen of Iran, who can be returned to Iran, we couldn’t find any," he told the court on Wednesday.
Given ASF17 is not a refugee, Australia is not obliged to seek third-country resettlement options. However, Australia also has a policy of not returning citizens to countries that do not accept forcible removals, like Iran.
Labor’s deportation bill could affect 375 children born in Australia, advocates warn. By Paul Karp, The Guardian
Shoebridge noted the minister “doesn’t need to have any regard to the best interests of children when issuing a direction to their parents”, which he labelled a “breach of international law, and also basic dignity”.
State Labor MPs call on Albanese government to expand visa access for Palestinian refugees. By Paul Karp, The Guardian
Seventeen state Labor MPs have called on the Albanese government to expand visa access for Palestinian refugees escaping violence in Gaza, warning of “distressing reports” of practical difficulties coming to Australia.
Detained immigrant takes bid for freedom to High Court. By Kat Wong, The Canberra Times
The scheme will be abolished on July 1 but the Human Rights Law Centre accused the government of failing to help those refused visas under it.
Sanmati Verma, a legal director at the law centre, said the government was using indefinite detention as a way to "coerce people into returning to danger".
"People in detention are deprived of their freedom, separated from their families and communities and routinely subjected to violence, isolation and deplorable conditions," she said
Detained immigrant takes bid for freedom to High Court. By Kat Wong, The Canberra Times
People smugglers could exploit visa black ban: Home Affairs. By Angus Thompson, Sydney Morning Herald
Home Affairs officials facing the inquiry said there were up to 200 people in immigration detention who were refusing to co-operate with moves to deport them, nearly 4500 people on a pathway-to-removal visa in the community and about 250 more people – including those released following the High Court decision in November – who could be affected.
Former immigration department deputy secretaries Abul Rizvi and Peter Hughes warned that black-banning entire nationalities would not persuade their governments to take back citizens who don’t wish to return.
Kaldor Centre explainer: 3 things to know about displacement in Gaza, UNSW
Egypt and Jordan are concerned that Israel may be using the war to effect a mass transfer of Palestinians to Jordan and Egypt, which the Jordanian Foreign Minister has called unacceptable. If Israel refuses to accept a two-State solution or an end of occupation, then ‘the third option is to try get rid of as many Palestinians as possible. That is the real concern.’
Kaldor Centre explainer: 3 things to know about displacement in Gaza, UNSW
Refugee Becomes Victim of Horrific Bondi Junction Stabbing Tragedy While Defending Others. By Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Australia, Medianet
Members of the community will come together at 6pm on Sunday 14th @ Westfield Bondi Junction (500 Oxford St, Bondi Junction NSW 2022) for silent prayers and a vigil commemorating the innocent lives lost during the Westfield Bondi Junction tragedy.
It is with heavy hearts that we also mourn the loss of Faraz Tahir, a cherished member of our community and a dedicated security guard who tragically lost his life while serving the public during this attack.
Faraz Tahir, aged 30, sought refuge in Australia just a year ago, fleeing persecution in his home country of Pakistan. He quickly became an integral part of our community, known for his unwavering dedication and kindness.
The silent death of asylum-seeker Aref. The Saturday Paper
Children watched as people began to self-harm and expressed their wish to die. The years rolled on in this hellhole where there appeared to be no end in sight because Australia had adopted laws – becoming the only country in the world to do so – that allowed for the indefinite detention of people who were not Australian citizens and who were seeking asylum.
The urgent call to halt the Migration Amendment Bill 2024. By Jane Salmon, P & I
Offshore processing persists, and the Immigration Department’s processes are a nightmare for those caught in its web. We’re stuck in a cycle of scapegoating, sensationalised media, and a race to the bottom between political parties.
Yes, the Department of Immigration faces a daunting task. Some exploit the system, claiming protection after initially arriving on student visas. But does that justify indefinite detention and deportation without rehabilitation?
The impending Migration Amendment Bill 2024 is a dangerous step. It paints all seeking protection visas as manipulators of a flawed system. If that were true, most would have given up after twelve gruelling years.
The urgent call to halt the Migration Amendment Bill 2024. By Jane Salmon, P & I
Refugee Sayed Abdellatif freed after almost 12 years in Australian immigration detention. By Sarah Malik, The Guardian
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre with human rights concerns as Nauru detention centre fills with boat arrivals. By Erin Parke & Rosanne Maloney, ABC News
'Black box' hearings prejudice refugee claims: research. By Farid Farid, Canberra Times
A refugee who escaped armed captors in Myanmar was interrogated at an Australian tribunal hearing into her protection claim about why she used the toilet before fleeing soldiers.
‘ Black box' hearings prejudice refugee claims: research. By Farid Farid, Canberra Times
Labor’s big deportation miscalculation – Full Story podcast, The Guardian
Presented by Jane Lee with Paul Karp
TheLabor’s big deportation miscalculation – Full Story podcast, The Guardian attempt to rush through new legislation designed to give the government extra powers to deport individuals from Australia has been rejected by the Senate.
Labor’s big deportation miscalculation - Full story podcast, The Guardian
Australia claims it is a multicultural success story. So why does it want to use godlike law to ringfence the nation? Julianne Schultz, The Guardian
Australians are rightly proud that the White Australia policy, once described as our Magna Carta, withered and finally died 50 years ago.
But the constitutional power to deport “aliens” that gave the exclusionary policy its real clout endures.
The parliament, as it has done repeatedly since 1901, is again tinkering with laws to better “ring fence” the nation. This month yet another Australian government will turn itself in knots as it seeks to convince the high court that it can detain unverified refugees who fail to cooperate with their .involuntary removal.
Meet the Sydney volunteers who are feeding families fleeing Gaza. By Mostafa Rachwani, The Guardian
Palestinians arriving in Australia on visitor visas are facing hardship and community organisations are stepping in to help.
Meet the Sydney volunteers who are feeding families fleeing Gaza. By Mustafa Rachwani, The Guardian
Forget ideology, it's a battle between politicians and lawyers that is shaping immigration policies By Annabel Crabb, ABC
For Dutton, who believes vividly in the forces of good and evil and believes lawyers side too regularly with the forces of evil, it is a lifelong hostility. And for the Albanese government in recent months – confronted with the spectre of High Court judges freeing convicted criminals from detention – Politicians vs Lawyers is a showdown it's joined through sheer existential, electoral desperation.
Government has 'moral duty' to repatriate Australian detained in Syria, Kylie Moore-Gilbert says, SBS, By Anna Henderson, Christy Somos
Academic and author Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was arrested and jailed in Iran for over 800 days
, is now using her platform to push for other Australians detained abroad — including Zahab.
She too thought he had died in the 2022 airstrike, telling SBS News "at the time I was utterly horrified".
News of his survival and continued incarceration in a Syrian prison "affected her deeply".
"I think the government has a moral duty to help Yusuf, and to help the other — in particular underage children — who are Australian citizens," she said. "These children are not culpable for the alleged crimes of their parents or their older siblings."