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Don’t demonise asylum seekers, human rights groups warn politicians [abc news] 21 March
By political reporter Olivia Caisley Amnesty International and the Asylum Seekers Centre were among those to sign the open letter. (ABC News: Matt Roberts) In short: A coalition of refugee and human rights organisations has written to the leaders of the...
Asylum seeker slated for deportation to Nauru has removal postponed due to legal challenge
Home affairs minister Tony Burke says he is confident in government’s power to deport the man and ‘will proceed with removal to Nauru as soon as possible’ Ben Doherty Sun 23 Feb 2025 An asylum seeker slated for deportation to Nauru on Monday has had his removal...
Denigrating refugees: Media Watch is no exception
By Peter Job Feb 12, 2025 Australian citizens and residents who originally came to this country seeking asylum, as they are clearly entitled to do under international law, have been in the news recently, through no fault of their own and not in a good way. Sections of...
UN Report Violation Of Rights
Australia violated human rights treaty with Nauru detainees, UN committee find Friday 10 January 2025 Australia has used "offshore processing" for asylum seekers attempting to read Australia by boat since 2013. (Immigration Department) In short: A UN committee...
Afghan who helped others escape the Taliban faces years-long visa wait
By Will Jackson Tue 24 December 2024 abc.net.au/news/concerns-afghan-priority-refugee-visa-processing/104693890 It was the message Susan Hutchinson had been dreading for months. Her colleague and friend, Mohammed Sorosh, had been arrested by the Iranian police after...
Annual Report 2023 – 2024
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR This year the Board oversaw the completion of the 2022-2024 Strategic Plan. This was the first strategic plan in BASP’s history and has helped the Board and Coordinators as we’ve made strategic decisions over recent years. The Board has...
Another Rushed Migration Bill Would Give The Government Sweeping Powers To Deport Potentially Thousands Of People
The Conversation: November 18, 2024 Authors: Daniel Ghezelbash & Anna Talbot The Albanese government is looking to introduce laws that would give it unprecedented powers to forcibly remove non-citizens from Australia. The newly introduced Migration Amendment Bill,...
Offshore detention makes it 20 times more likely asylum seekers will suffer PTSD, Australian study finds
Exclusive: Researchers examine how regime impacts someone’s risk of experiencing long-term serious mental illness once living in the community Ben Doherty Tue 12 Nov 2024 01.00 AEDT The Guardian Asylum seekers detained...
Federal government loses High Court case over legality of curfew and ankle bracelets for those freed from immigration detention
The High Court has ruled on the legality of a law requiring those released from immigration detention to adhere to a curfew and wear ankle monitoring devices. (Supplied: Queensland Police Service) In short: In a five to two ruling today, the High Court found a...
Words matter: Corrosive narratives dehumanise refugees
The way we talk about other human beings matters. We may use hurtful language. We may deny them their identity by giving them numbers or names that are not their own names. We can assign them identities based on the name of the boat that arrived in, seeking refugee...
Refugee Council welcomes the historic High Court ruling finding indefinite immigration detention unlawful
Refugee Council of Australia, 9 November 2023 The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) has welcomed the High Court’s decision that has found indefinite immigration detention to be unlawful and unconstitutional in cases where there is no prospect of people being...
Humanitarian visa processing – Is it who you know, rather than what you know? Part 2
June 20, 2025 Is this how we want our visa processing system to run? Two of the families RAR successfully settled in Australia were the result of extensive political lobbying. A retired government minister who asked RAR to sponsor the sister of one of his former...
100-day campaign starts 1 August 2025
As Australian Churches, we believe the Gospel calls us to welcome the stranger. That’s why churches across the country are standing up to say: It’s time to #EndTheWaiting. Starting 1 August 2025, a nationwide witness led by churches and people of faith will see...
LIVES ON HOLD: ‘Muru’
LIVES ON HOLD: ‘Muru’ Asylum seekers are spending years in limbo as they wait for their claims to be processed. Muru (not his real name), a Sri Lankan national, was a young man of 25 when he arrived in Australia by boat. He had turned 40 by the time he was finally...
Home Affairs and the bleak hole of humanitarian visa processing
The Australian government has been strong in its position of compassion for vulnerable women and families in Afghanistan. There is a glaring disparity between this rhetoric and visa processing systems which deny humanitarian visas – despite ample evidence of the...
