Refugee NZYQ will get substantial compensation for false imprisonment. It’s unpalatable but just. By Michael Bradley, Crikey

The man we know only as “NZYQ” is a convicted child sexual abuse offender. I don’t know the details of his crime, but I’m confident the three-year, four-month minimum sentence he got for it wasn’t enough. I am equally sure that the desperate facts of his personal history — he is a stateless Rohingya Muslim refugee who came to Australia by boat, still a teenager when he offended — offer no excuse.

Nevertheless, the criminal justice system’s failure is not for the migration system to repair. The High Court was inarguably right in declaring NZYQ’s indefinite detention unlawful for want of constitutional power, and granting him habeas corpus that mandated his release.

Refugee NZYQ will get substantial compensation for false imprisonment. It's unpalatable, but just. By Michael Bradley, Crikey

'A free and dignified life' : the regional Australian communities welcoming refugees. By Dellaram Vreeland, The Guardian

Liz Button, the chief executive of Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia (CRSA), says more than 320 refugees from countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Congo, El Salvador and Guatemala have settled in dozens of locations across the country since the program’s launch.

'A free and dignified life': the regional Australian communities welcoming refugees. By Dellaram Vreeland, The Guardian

The deaths of Moses, Muhammad and a mother of two could still bring change. By Charlotte Grieve, SMH

Moses Kellie was ordinarily a quiet and clean man who attended church and had a knack for drawing life-like illustrations. But in his final days, his lips trembled, there was grass in his dreadlocks, his face was greasy and a foul odour followed him…..

He’d stopped showering, eating and leaving his room. He was seen staring into his bathroom cell in Villawood Immigration Detention Centre. It was in that where he was found hanging on January 25, 2019, and pronounced dead shortly after.

These eyewitness accounts were provided by detainees, guards and healthcare staff during hearings of a four-week coronial inquest into the deaths of Kellie and two other detainees – Muhammad Hafizuddin Bin Zaini, 26, and mother-of-two Leah Porter – in Villawood between 2019 and 2022.

The deaths of Moses, Muhammad and a mother of two could still bring change. By Charlotte Grieve, SMH

O’Neil takes aim at Dutton’s ‘tough guy’ legacy in Home Affairs. By Matthew Knott, SMH

O’Neil said Dutton had pursued an “oddly narrow view” of the Home Affairs Department focused on stopping asylum seeker boats and child exploitation.

These were important, she said, but there were many other pressing issues to address – including the national security implications of artificial intelligence.

O'Neil takes aim at Dutton's 'tough guy' legacy in Home Affairs. By Matthew Knott, SMH

Nowhere to go. Refugees stranded in Indonesia while the world looks away. By Duncan Graham, Michael West Media

In 2002, fifty nations – including Australia – set up the Bali Process to sort out the tragedy of boat people. Since then, hundreds of asylum seekers have drowned trying to reach Australia and Indonesia. The boats have stopped, but the refugees are still coming. Duncan Graham reports from Aceh, ground zero for people smugglers.

Abdu Solam wasn’t paraded for media sympathy. The chance encounter during an unchaperoned wander by the only Westerner among 233 traumatised asylum seekers came as the 11-year-old dragged himself past a torn tent.

Flapping blue plastic sheets flag the location in Indonesia of Rohingya Muslims, forced from their Myanmar homeland by a ruthless military junta bent on ethnic cleansing. Survivors then fled to the world’s biggest refugee camp (population one million) in Bangladesh after years of misery and squalor.

Abdu had been a cripple from birth, and his wasted legs suggested polio. In the West, he’d get prosthetics and training. Indonesia hasn’t signed the International Convention on Refugees, so has no legal obligation to help. Consequently, he’s unlikely ever to get the aid he needs.

Nor in Australia, where conservatives hostile to accepting ‘boat people’ would see a disabled child as a drain on ‘taxpayer-funded’ NDIS.

Nowhere to go. Refugees stranded in Indonesia while the world looks away. By Duncan Graham, Michael West Media

Crunch time on Rohingya refugees. By David Brewster, The Interpreter

In recent years, Australia has made significant investments in supporting Bangladesh’s efforts to provide the Rohingyas with the bare essentials of food and shelter. Australia is now the third-largest provider of bilateral assistance after the United States and European Union. For Australia, it has in essence been an investment in keeping the Rohingyas in the camps and off the boats.

But several new developments may change the status quo.

Crunch time on Rohingya refugees. By David Brewster, The Interpreter

The indefinite detention of people seeking asylum in Australia is at an end. By Spencer Zifcak, P&I

Without a reasonable understanding of the reasons for the High Court’s decision that the affected asylum seekers must no longer be detained, neither the decision nor its implications can fairly be assessed.

Let’s begin at the beginning. The High Court’s decision in the case of NZYQ (November 2023), overturned a prior High Court decision in the case of Al-Kateb, made 20 years earlier in 2004. The Al-Kateb case was the first to contemplate the indefinite detention of people who had fled from their home countries and arrived in Australia by boat.

The indefinite detention of people seeking asylum in Australia is at an end. By Spencer Zifcak, P & I

On the UN stage, these Hazaras are challenging the world to tackle the refugee crisis. SBS Dari

After years of living in uncertainty, Mr Haidari finally received his permanent residency in September.
Eleven years after first stepping foot on Australian soil, Mr Haidari is now a strong voice, advocating for his fellow refugees on an international stage.
He is representing Amnesty International Australia at the forum.
He is one of a delegation of 15 people representing Australia’s refugee advocacy network, a group that includes three Hazaras..

On the UN stage, these Hazaras are challenging the world to tackle the refugee crisis. SBS Dari

Up to 220 Indonesians could be compensated after children wrongly jailed in Australia as people smugglers. By Christopher Knaus, The Guardian

The prosecutions, launched in the highly charged political climate around border protection, led to children as young as 12 being jailed in maximum security adult prisons in Western Australia.

A Guardian Australia investigation last year revealed that police relied on the technique despite being aware of information casting serious doubt on its reliability and accuracy.

Up to 220 Indonesians could be compensated after children wrongly jailed in Australia as people smugglers. By Christopher Knaus, The Guardian

Court rules parts of NSW protest laws are 'invalid' after challenge by Knitting Nannas activists. By Xanthe Gregory and Heath Parkes-Hupton, ABC News

Helen Kvelde and Dominique Jacobs, members of activist group the Knitting Nannas, launched a challenge in the NSW Supreme Court through the Environmental Defenders Office in October 2022.

They argued section 214A of the Crimes Act 1900 and clause 48A(1) of the Roads Regulation 2018 were "unconstitutional as they impermissibly burden the implied freedom of political communication of the NSW community".

Court rules parts of NSW protest laws are 'invalid' after challenge by Knitting Nannas activists. By Xanthe Gregory and Heath Parkes-Hupton, ABC News

The migration strategy won’t silence Dutton but Labor is backing away from the feared Big Australia. By Paul Karp, The Guardian

The politics of migration turned in the new year, when an explosion in the number of arrivals since Covid border restrictions were lifted pushed up net overseas migration.

In his budget reply, Dutton warned Australia was on track to add more than the population of Adelaide in five years and the Coalition started to link the issue to surging rents.

The migration strategy won't silence Dutton but Labor is backing away from the feared Big Australia. By Paul Karp, The Guardian

Indonesia faces criticism over plan to deport Rohingya to Myanmar. By Arie Firdaus and Nazarudin Latif, Benar News

Ma’ruf, the vice president, suggested the Rohingya be settled temporarily on the island near Singapore.

“We used Galang island for Vietnamese refugees in the past. We will discuss it again. I think the government must take action,” Ma’ruf said on Tuesday.

Galang housed about 250,000 Vietnamese refugees, known as “boat people,” from 1979 to 1996. The UNHCR built healthcare facilities, schools, places of worship and cemeteries.

Ma’ruf said the government could not turn away the Rohingya, but also had to consider local people’s objections and the possibility of more refugees arriving.

Indonesia faces criticism over plan to deport Rohingya to Myanmar. By Arie Firdaus and Nazarudin Latin, Benar News

From Vietnam to Australia, a refugee doctor’s journey. By Ian Webster, P&I

On 23 November, a boatload of asylum seekers was dispatched to Nauru for offshore detention. They were found wandering the coast of Western Australia by Aboriginal people, three days earlier. This has been Australian policy for unauthorised boat arrivals since 2013; 10 arrivals in the past year. But there was a time when asylum seekers were welcome.

Such is the story of Vietnamese refugee doctor, Sang Phan, his wife Kim Chau, and their children Thanh, Lan Huong, and Tri. Of escape from Vietnam and the perils of an ocean journey in a small boat. A journey of apprehension and uncertainty – including a baby delivered by Sang Phan in the vast Indian ocean – to Indonesia, Malaysia, and finally to Brisbane, and then, Sydney.

From Vietnam to Australia, a refugee doctor's journey. By Ian Webster, P & I

After growing up Iranian in Ballarat, I know it to be a welcoming place – a hate march won’t change that. By Dellaram Vreeland, The Guardian

Nowadays there are several organisations dedicated to multiculturalism and interfaith promotion and schools are starting to acknowledge a variety of cultural celebrations. The narrative is changing. Migrants are not viewed as foreign entities with everything to take and nothing to give; communities are rallying around refugees and assisting with resettlement, which then has a flow-on effect on the overall economy.

Many rural Australians are dedicating their time to sponsoring refugees from afar. Our food, businesses, the health and education sector, the arts and entertainment scene — all flourish thanks to the contribution of our multicultural communities.

After growing up Iranian in Ballarat, I know it to be a welcoming place – a hate march won’t change that. By Dellaram Vreeland, The Guardian

Immigration detention fallout: People released are 'set up to fail', experts say. By Madeleine Wedesweiler, SBS

Dickinson said clients the centre had spoken to were getting headspins from hunger.

"They're not sure how long they're staying in their current accommodation. They're not sure what support is available to them, and they're in limbo and in fear. And then on top of that, they're subjected to incomprehensible conditions and quite extraordinary public debate suggesting they should be locked up forever, more or less," she said.

Some clients said they feel too ashamed to go outside and were significantly impaired by the nature of their release, she added.

Immigration detention fallout: People released are 'set up to fail', experts say. By Madeleine Wedesweiler, SBS