This failure to confront the damaging impact of our policies is again evident as we mark 12 years since Kevin Rudd’s 2013 avowal that asylum-seekers who arrived by boat would never settle in Australia. We urgently need an honest assessment of the devastating impact that Rudd’s policy has had. Far from the kindness and compassion that Albanese spoke of on election night 2023, for those who risked all to come by boat seeking safety in Australia the reality is vastly different.
Strong demand from Tuvalu for Australian residency as visa lottery closes. By Sara Tomevska, SBS News
Some have speculated the entire population of the Pacific Island of Tuvalu could live in Australia within forty years if demand for a new visa lottery holds - but Pacific Minister Pat Conroy says unlike a lot of permanent resident visas, Tuvalans have a lot of freedom of movement back to Tuvalu.
Rebuilding lives in the shadow of Khmer Rouge terror. By Neary Ty, SMH
In 1975, a four-year genocide began in which 2 million people were murdered or starved to death. The bloody chapter wiped out a generation of educated Cambodians and still haunts the country’s people.
Dictator Pol Pot’s brutal Khmer Rouge regime murdered and starved millions in pursuit of Year Zero, brutally targeting anyone with perceived privilege. Fifty years on, while the scars of war persist, Cambodian Australians are reflecting on their journey, embracing their identities and preserving their culture.
Rebuilding lives in the shadow of Khmer Rouge terror. By Neary Ty, SMH
Twelve years later, $13 billion, no plan: Offshore processing drags into its thirteenth year. ASRC (Asylum Seeker Resource Centre)
More than 130 people are still trapped offshore after being sent there by the Australian Government — with no plan for the vast majority of people there, no resettlement, and no end in sight.
On the 12-year anniversary of offshore detention, the ASRC is releasing updated data showing that Australia’s offshore processing regime has now cost taxpayers over $13 billion, while people continue to suffer. The devastating toll of offshore detention is well-documented – over 14 deaths, life-threatening medical neglect, and a systemic pattern of sexual abuse, including against children. In January this year, the UN Human Rights Committee found that Australia was responsible for violations of human rights and called on the Government to offer compensation.
Palestinian woman released from immigration detention in Sydney a week after assistant minister cancelled her visa. By Jordyn Beazley and Daisy Dumas, The Guardian
Last Thursday, Maha Almassri, 61, was awoken by Australian Border Force officers at her son’s home in western Sydney and taken to Villawood detention centre. She was told her bridging visa had been cancelled after she failed a character test.
Traditional textile skills provide work opportunity for Afghan refugees. By Andrew Mangelsdorf, ABC News
Ms Rahimi grew up in Afghanistan, but her family was forced to flee to Iran when the Taliban took over in the 1990s.
Still a child when she fled as a refugee, she was unable to attend high school, limiting her opportunity to pursue the career she longed for in textiles.
Despite this, she continued her craft and brought it with her when she and her husband came as refugees to Australia in 2014.
Australia’s multiculturalism lives mostly on the surface. Inclusion without voice is tokenism. By Shadi Khan Saif, The Guardian
Yes, multiculturalism in Australia is visible, celebrated, and often delicious. But sometimes it feels like it lives mostly on the surface – in food stalls, colourful festivals and speeches on special days. When it comes to shaping narratives, policies or power structures, diversity tends to fade from the frame.
West Bank: Israeli state-backed settler violence drives mass displacement of Palestinian communities, Norwegian Refugee Council
“We are watching Israel annex the West Bank, as entire Palestinian communities are driven from their land through violence, intimidation, and an environment deliberately shaped to force people out,” said Angelita Caredda, NRC Middle East and North Africa Regional Director. “This cannot continue. The international community must act to stop displacement and support the safe, dignified return of those already forced to flee.”
After 'merciless' torture, Ahmad now lives in a hideout — waiting on a call from Australia. By Sam Dover, SBS News
Nearly four years after being captured and tortured by the Taliban, Ahmad can still vividly recall the cell he was held in.
The 31-year-old Hazara refugee is speaking with SBS News from a hideout in Pakistan, where he and his family have been living in secret for the past three and a half years, awaiting approval for humanitarian visas from the Australian government.
Before fleeing Afghanistan, Ahmad had been living a fulfilling life fighting for social justice.
Calls for Australian government to fast-track visas as Afghan refugees ordered out of Iran. Watch SBS News
As the Iranian government orders millions of refugees to return back to Afghanistan, their families in Australia have raised concerns about what fate awaits them under the Taliban regime. Amnesty International is calling on the Australian government to fast-track the visas of those affiliated with the previous Afghan government, before it's too late.
UN highlights humanitarian and human rights crises in Afghanistan. By Essam Al-Ghalib, SBS News
At the UN headquarters in New York, 116 countries voted in favour of a resolution introduced by Germany, expressing grave concern about Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation, particularly the rights of women and girls under Taliban rule.
The United States and Israel voted against, while a dozen countries, including China and Pakistan, abstained.
UN highlights humanitarian and human rights crises in Afghanistan. By Essam Al-Ghalib, SBS News
Tasmanian Refugee Legal Service reports rising number of LGBTQIA+ clients who 'fear for their life' if returned home. By Bec Pridham, ABC News
Nearly 70 countries criminalise people for being gay, with some even using the death penalty.
The Tasmanian Refugee Legal Service (TRLS) is representing a growing number of onshore LGBTQIA+ clients seeking asylum who fear persecution in their home country.
This Melbourne school is one of the best in the world for overcoming adversity. By Nicole Precel, SMH
“I think that having had education removed from you for some block of time, which is true for all of our young women, makes them their own advocates for school in really different ways, based on their lives and their family situations,” Hertzog said.
“But it does create this kind of shared camaraderie and gratitude that crosses over those country lines and experiences.”
Fifteen years of UN Women: A call to action, not complacency. By Simone Clarke, Pearls & Irritations
Fifteen years ago, UN Women was established with a bold mission: to drive real and lasting change for all women and girls.
In that time, the world has seen undeniable change. More girls are in school. More women sit at decision-making tables. Gender equality has been written into more laws, policies and constitutions that ever before.
But today, as UN Women marks its 15th anniversary, we are also facing an uncomfortable truth: the push for equality is losing ground.
Fifteen years of UN Women: A call to action, not complacency. By Simone Clarke, Pearls & Irritations
'Save us from this hopeless situation': Afghan refugee calls on Australia to protect his family. By Sam Dover, SBS News
Ahmad and his family have spent the past three and a half years living in limbo after fleeing the Taliban for Pakistan. He has now waited more than 42 months to hear a response to his Refugee and Humanitarian visa application from the Australian government. As Pakistani authorities boost efforts to deport migrants like Ahmad's family back to Afghanistan, he is fearing persecution and even death at the hands of the Taliban.
Opinion : The Green Hell. By Zohal Azra, Right Now (Human Rights in Australia)
Indonesia – a land of beautiful beaches, dense jungles and green mountains – is anything but paradise for the thousands of refugees trapped within its borders. Known among refugees as “The Green Hell,” it is a prison without walls, a place where beauty conceals a reality of despair.
Opinion : The Green Hell. By Zohal Azra, Right Now (Human Rights in Australia)
One in three Tuvaluans apply to relocate to Australia under climate visa scheme just 10 days after opening. By Demi Huang and Ben McKay, 7 News
Nearly a third of the population of Pacific island nation Tuvalu has applied for a new visa scheme that would allow them to relocate to Australia.
Australia is offering 280 visas annually to Tuvaluan citizens under the Falepili Union treaty — a landmark agreement billed as the world’s first climate migration deal.
Citizens of the climate change-threatened Polynesian nation are being encouraged to apply as rising seas threaten to engulf the tiny Pacific nation.
Minister reveals Kanye West was denied entry to Australia after releasing antisemitic song. By Tom Crowley, ABC News
Rapper Kanye West was denied entry to Australia over antisemitic song lyrics, Immigration Minister Tony Burke has revealed.
Mr Burke told the ABC's Afternoon Briefing the musician, who goes by Ye, had a valid visa cancelled by officials in his department after releasing a song titled Heil Hitler.
Mr Burke did not say there was a permanent ban on the rapper, pointing out visa applications were reassessed each time in accordance with the law.
State Department shifts $250 million from refugee aid to 'self-deportations' By Jonathan Landay, Reuters
The U.S. State Department has moved $250 million to the Department of Homeland Security for voluntary deportations by migrants without legal status, a spokesperson said, an unprecedented repurposing of funds that have been used to aid refugees uprooted by war and natural disasters.
‘Real people, real families’: Coalition signals dramatic shift away from anti-immigration rhetoric of Dutton era. By Dan Jervis-Bardy and Krishani Dhanji, The Guardian
The federal opposition will adopt a more empathetic approach to migrants that seeks to emphasise people’s positive contribution to Australia, says the new shadow immigration minister, Paul Scarr, drawing a line under the harsh anti-immigration rhetoric deployed under Peter Dutton.