Guardian Australia political editor Katharine Murphy talks to Andrew Giles, Australian minister for immigration, citizenship and multicultural affairs. They discuss Labors’ anti-racism strategies, and how social cohesion in Australia is at a tipping point following a bruising referendum, and an escalation of conflict in the Middle East.
Youth workers call for cultural competency training to prevent offenders boycotting resources. By Gladys Serugga, ABC News
Therapeutic specialist, David Chikwuba, is among those pushing for more cultural competency training in the industry, in the hopes that fewer young people will boycott available support in fear of being misunderstood.
"Empowering [young people] builds their self-confidence and from my experience empowering them just notifies them of the skills and abilities that they already have within themselves," he said.
Refugee women call for government to walk with them. By Paul Osborne AAP, The West Australian
Rathi Barthlote knows the pain and anguish faced by refugee women.
Ms Barthlote has for the past four weeks been on a 640km walk with other refugees from Melbourne to Canberra to call for permanent residency and an end to uncertainty for 10,000 people.
"We are refugees who came to Australia seeking safety, but after a decade still do not have a clear pathway to permanent residency," she said, arriving in Canberra on Wednesday.
Refugee women call for government to walk with them. By Paul Osborne AAP, The West Australian
We’ve walked 640km to Canberra to plead for an end to our anguish. Visa limbo is breaking our hearts. By Rathi Barthlote and Geetha Ramachandran, The Guardian
For the past four weeks, we’ve trekked 640kms across Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT to highlight the impact of visa uncertainty for refugees.
We’ve had countless blisters, and – much to our horror – more than our fair share of snakes to contend with.
But we have kept going, strong and united and filled with hope.
VIDEO: Palestinian-Australian describes her family's struggle to leave Gaza. ABC News
Refugees in Palestine. Samah Sabawi, a Palestinian-Australian author in Melbourne, describes her family’s struggle as they try to leave Gaza.
VIDEO: Palestinian-Australian describes her family’s struggle to leave Gaza. ABC News
We are better than this. By Jane Salmon, The Australian Independent Media network
The cut-through of mercenary, racist and Trumpist tropes reflected in the “No” referendum campaign has many people, including refugees, alarmed.
We are better than this. By Jane Salmon, The Australian Independent Media network
Refugees 'abandoned' by Aust in Port Moresby are feeling distressed. Ian Rintoul with Lydia Lewis on Radio NZ
Refugee Action Coalition says refugees abandoned by Australia in Papua New Guinea are experiencing another round of distress.
Ian Rintoul says the 62 refugees left in Port Moresby have not been paid their food allowance on top of being threatened with eviction and no access to health services.
Mr Rintoul told RNZ Pacific's Lydia Lewis there is a real risk vulnerable refugees will be booted onto the street with no support.
TEN YEARS OF INHUMANITY, TEN YEARS TOO LONG. By Pauline Pannell, Fremantle Herald Interactive
On Manus Island asylum seekers were held for years in “Regional Processing Centres” but there was no processing, no information, just indefinite detention.
In 2019 all were moved from Manus Island to Port Moresby.
Ten years on, 80 refugees and people seeking asylum are still trapped in PNG.
The Albanese government came to power aspiring to a fair and humane refugee policy.
Grandmothers for Refugees are calling on the government to vigorously pursue its reform agenda, giving priority to bringing the remaining 80 refugees and asylum seekers from PNG to Australia while resettlement options are found.
Pauline Pannell and Betty McGeever (members of Grandmothers for Refugees in WA) wrote this article earlier this year for the Ten Year Anniversary. Check out GFR September Newsletter on our Homepage for news of Fremantle actions.
TEN YEARS OF INHUMANITY, TEN YEARS TOO LONG. By Pauline Pannell, Fremantle Herald Interactive
Peter Dutton doubles down on call to cancel visas of antisemitic protesters. By Paul Karp, The Guardian
Peter Dutton and Sussan Ley have doubled down on calls to cancel the visas of antisemitic protesters, despite the head of Australia’s spy agency warning that “inflamed language” may fuel community tensions.
The opposition leader and his deputy again called on the government to use character provisions in migration law to deport those responsible for antisemitic chants. Senior ministers urged the public to stay calm and let police do their work, and noted there was no evidence that the protesters making antisemitic comments were temporary residents.
More than 60 refugees fear eviction as PNG and Australia disagree over 'outstanding invoices' 7.30 / By Tim Swanston and Hannah Meagher, ABC News
Shah Nawaz Hussain was just 19 when he fled his home in Pakistan to Indonesia, to board a boat destined for Christmas Island.
He could have had no idea that what would follow would be a decade of living in Papua New Guinea, including years of detention on Manus Island under Australia's "PNG Solution".
Albanese government addresses coalition-era asylum seekers surge. By Abul Rizvi, P&I
After around eight years of policy paralysis and the biggest labour trafficking scam abusing the asylum system in our history, a scam that was largely neglected by Home Affairs Minister Dutton and his Secretary Mike Pezzullo, the Albanese Government has announced a $160 million package to “restore integrity to Australia’s refugee protection system”.
Nine’s Chief Political Correspondent David Crowe writes on the toxic nature of the debate with Peter Dutton already trying to deflect blame by claiming that Labor in Government has “allowed 105,000 asylum seekers into our country over the last 15 months”.
Albanese government addresses coalition-era asylum seekers surge. By Abul Rizvi, P&I
What does the government's plan to improve asylum applications mean for the people waiting to reunite with family? By Shadi Khan Saif, ABC News
A lone mother living in hiding with her five children under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan has been counting the days for nearly two years, waiting to reunite with her husband in Brisbane as logistical barriers and red tape keep many families torn apart.
Shakila Sahak told the ABC from Kabul she was not aware of this week's announcement that the Australian government would spend at least $160 million to overhaul the asylum application processing mechanism.
Australia's inhumane treatment of refugees needs urgent attention. By Mark Gaetani, Canberra Times
The living conditions of these refugees highlights the need for a parliamentary inquiry and the St Vincent de Paul Society eagerly awaits notice of when the proceedings will commence. The sooner the better, we believe, and preferably before the end of this year.
Labor has appointed Dennis Richardson, a former secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Defence, to investigate. We suggest Mr Richardson's inquiry should be extended to include current contracts in PNG as well as shining a light on the previous government's murky deal to "resettle" refugees.
Australia's inhumane treatment of refugees needs urgent attention. By Mark Gaetani, Canberra Times
Why the government’s plan to overhaul the asylum system is a smart use of resources – and might just work. By Daniel Ghezelbash & Jane McAdam
These reforms represent a significant departure from Australia’s previous attempts to increase the efficiency of Australia’s asylum processes. Over the past three decades, successive governments have instead limited the rights of people seeking asylum – including by cutting funding for legal support.
Why is Pakistan planning to deport undocumented Afghans? By Abid Hussain, Aljazeera
Pakistan’s government has announced that all undocumented migrants and refugees must leave Pakistan by the beginning of next month, either voluntarily or by force. Hundreds of thousands of them are Afghans.
Why is Pakistan planning to deport undocumented Afghans? By Abid Hussain, Aljazeera
PNG threatens to send refugees back to Australia unless it keeps funding humanitarian program. By Rebecca Kuku, Ben Doherty and Paul Karp, The Guardian
Refugees exiled to Papua New Guinea a decade ago will be sent back to Australia if the Australian government fails to continue funding PNG’s humanitarian program, Port Moresby’s most senior migration official has warned.
PNG’s chief migration officer, Stanis Hulahau, said the refugees had been abandoned by Australia and the PNG businesses that had been housing and caring for the men were owed tens of millions of dollars.
“If Australia wants the refugees to continue to remain in Papua New Guinea then they have to fund the program, or we will shut the program and send the refugees back to Australia,” Hulahau said.
Australia’s Department of Home Affairs announced a landmark Refugee Advisory Panel – but there’s a catch. By Missing Perspectives, Pearls & Irritations
Sounds progressive, right? It is, except there’s a pretty big catch. Being on this panel is an unpaid position. An unpaid position offered to some of Australia’s most vulnerable and marginalised. This is consistent with advisory panel models in other countries.
Asking for their time and expertise without so much as a drop of reimbursement in return.
The asylum seeker failure Peter Dutton cannot deny. By David Crowe, SMH
Labor will need to show it has the migration system under control – more on that below – but the debate has to start with facts, not falsehoods. The truth is that the strain on the system grew worse when Dutton was immigration and border protection minister from December 2014 to August 2018 and minister for home affairs from December 2017 to March 2021.
The asylum seeker failure Peter Dutton cannot deny. By David Crowe, SMH
Australia will pay $27m compensation to Indonesians held in adult jails when they were children. By Christopher Knaus, The Guardian
The commonwealth this week agreed to settle a class action brought by the Indonesians, some who were as young as 12 when they were locked up in adult prisons and prosecuted in adult courts as people smugglers between 2010 and 2012 during the highly charged political climate around border protection.
Labor to prioritise new asylum seeker claims as part of $160m package to tackle backlog. By Paul Karp, The Guardian
In January Guardian Australia reported that the Refugee Council was concerned that a massive backlog for processing and review of asylum claims was creating an incentive for unmeritorious applications.
The government claims it can process new claims in as fast as seven weeks for genuine refugees, and that “real-time” processing starting with the latest applications will be fairer without harming those already in the queue.