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Archive for: 01/2008

Refugees disadvantaged by citizenship test

The new citizenship test initiated by the Howard government in October 2007 seems to disadvantage refugees compared to other future citizens. Early results showed that the failure rate of asylum seekers is remarkably higher than that of other migrant groups. The nature of the questions is making it harder for needier migrants to become citizens of Australia.

Controversial resettlement of Bhutanese refugees

More than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees staying in camps in Nepal are to be resettled in the USA. At the beginning of the 1990s, Bhutan deprived ethnic Nepalese living in the country of their citizenship and expelled a large number of them. They fled to India and Nepal to escape discrimination and persecution. But the resettlement option has sparked some controversy.

Calls to end offshore asylum seeker processing on Christmas Island

The Rudd Government has been criticised for refusing to abolish the offshore processing of asylum seekers outside of Australian law on remote Christmas Island. This move seems to undermine the Government’s commitment to dismantling the Pacific Solution.

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© AP

Mass refugee exodus in Libya

Libya announced on Wednesday that it had started deporting illegal immigrants. The expulsion of an estimated number of 1 million people from the North African country would be a breach of national and international laws and existing asylum obligations. The mass deportation puts many refugees at risk of being refouled (or returned) to face possible persecution or harm.

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HREOC releases annual report on immigration detention

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission recently released its annual inspection report on Australia's immigration detention facilities. Whilst some improvements have been made, the human rights watchdog reiterated many of Amnesty International's concerns about the health effects of mandatory detention and criticised the "prison-like" conditions of Stage 1 at Villawood Detention centre.

Inhumane treatment of remaining detainees on Nauru set to end

21 Sri Lankan refugees detained on Nauru flew into Brisbane last night. After being detained in Nauru since March last year, the 21 refugees were looking forward to their new life in Australia. The resettlement reaffirms the Australian Government's commitment to human rights principles.

Calls to “scrap and replace” Villawood

After making negative headlines last week, the death of a detainee added fuel to the flames of critics on Villawood Detention Centre. Despite his poor health condition, an Iranian refugee continued to be held in detention in Villawood and died on Sunday morning in St. Georges Hospital.

Record payout awarded to Iranian refugee

Mr Parviz Yousefi, an Iranian man, was awarded the highest compensation payout of $800,000 for psychiatric damage suffered whilst in Woomera detention. He was placed in detention for three years, separated from his family despite medical recommendations that he be released into appropriate care.

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