Australia is deporting 3 non-citizens from the ‘NZYQ’ group to Nauru. What could it do instead? By Mary Anne Kenny & Lisa van Toor, The Conversation

Other countries have established systems for managing non-citizens who are not entitled to protection or whose visas have been revoked due to criminal offences, ensuring they are not detained indefinitely.

After completing their prison sentences, these individuals are typically released into the community, where domestic law enforcement handles any further offending.

Neglecting to address offending behaviour or rehabilitation within the Australian system – whether during imprisonment, detention, or in the community – and then deporting individuals to developing countries doesn’t really solve the problem.

It simply means we are externalising the problem to a poorer country.

Australia is deporting 3 non-citizens from the ‘NZYQ’ group to Nauru. What could it do instead? By Mary Anne Kenny & Lisa van Toor, The Conversation

Majority of Australian voters expect fair and humane approach to refugees, poll shows. By Sarah Basford Canales, The Guardian


Political leaders are being urged to embrace refugee policies “grounded in humanity, not cruelty” as new research has found a majority of Australians polled believe the federal government has a responsibility to accept people seeking asylum.

Majority of Australian voters expect fair and humane approach to refugees, poll shows. By Sarah Basford Canales, The Guardian

A mixed bag: views on immigration in Australia. By Alyssa Leng, Ryan Edwards & Terence Wood, Dev Policy Blog

We used a large public opinion survey to study the attitudes of people in Australia to migration. Our aim was to determine whether respondents’ beliefs about migration were accurate and whether attitudes could be changed with additional information.

The full findings are in our new Development Policy Centre Discussion Paper.

A mixed bag: views on immigration in Australia. By Alyssa Leng, Ryan Edwards & Terence Wood, Dev Policy Blog

Burke expects legal challenge to Nauru deal deporting three violent NZYQ members. By Jessica Bahr, SBSr

Burke said the three men being removed from Australia had failed a character test, and their bridging visas were cancelled after Nauru issued long-term resettlement visas on Saturday.

He said they would not be deported within the next seven days, but it would occur "as soon as possible" once arrangements are made.

"When somebody has come and treated Australians in a way that shows an appalling character, their visas do get cancelled and when their visas are cancelled, they should leave," he told reporters on Sunday.

He signalled Nauru could take others from the cohort, saying the government there "had described these three visas as the first three".

Burke expects legal challenge to Nauru deal deporting three violent NZYQ members. By Jessica Bahr, SBS

Will Pekanbaru become Indonesia’s Cox’s Bazar? By Nino Viartasiwi & Antje Missbach, New Mandala

While Aceh used to be a rather welcoming place for Rohingya refugees, from late 2023 onwards their disembarkations were met with strong rejection from the local population, causing some boats to remain offshore for several days or move on to other sites where local people were more welcoming. Many have wondered what might have caused the drastic shift from hospitality to hostility and indeed many factors have contributed to this swift.

Will Pekanbaru become Indonesia’s Cox’s Bazar? By Nino Viartasiwi & Antje Missbach, New Mandala

Denigrating refugees: Media Watch is no exception By Peter Job, P&I

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 the media and some politicians have attacked them for doing what all citizens and residents have a right to do, that is to bring their partners and close relatives to Australia.

The ABC’s Media Watch program commendably took up this issue on 3 February under its new presenter Linton Besser. While there are certainly positive aspects to the Media Watch coverage, anyone with an understanding of fundamental refugee rights should be concerned by the way the program framed the issue, to the point of perpetuating misconceptions. To understand this, it is worthwhile having a look at Australian actions and policies towards refugees in the past few decades.

Denigrating refugees: Media Watch is no exception By Peter Job, P&I

Offshore health crisis deepens: Advocates call on Labor to reinstate Medevac legislation, ASRC

Doctors and human rights organisations, including the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) and Amnesty International, have today backed the reintroduction of the Medevac legislation, calling it a vital lifeline for refugees and people seeking asylum abandoned by the Australian Government in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Nauru, where a worsening health crisis requires immediate action.

Offshore health crisis deepens: Advocates call on Labor to reinstate Medevac legislation, ASRC

Climate impacts are forcing people from their homes. When, how and why do they have valid refugee claims? By Jane McAdam, The Conversation

..And the impacts of climate change and disasters are not indiscriminate – they affect people in different ways. Factors such as age, gender, disability and health can intersect to create particular risk of persecution for particular individuals or communities.

For example, a person who is a member of a minority may find their government is withholding disaster relief from them. Or, climate or disaster impacts may end up exacerbating inter-communal conflicts, putting certain people at heightened risk of persecution.

Now, we have a much more nuanced understanding of things. Refugee law (and complementary protection under human rights law) do have a role to play in assessing the claims of people affected by climate change…

Climate impacts are forcing people from their homes. When, how and why do they have valid refugee claims? By Jane McAdam, The Conversation

How Australia plans to connect 600,000 skilled foreign workers and the industries desperate for them. By Dan Jervis-Bardy, The Guardian

A disconnected, complex and costly system for recognising overseas qualifications is blamed for preventing or delaying skilled migrants working in their chosen field in Australia.

As the federal election nears, a broad coalition of organisations spanning unions and employer groups is ramping up pressure on the major parties to fix the “skills mismatch” to unlock an estimated $9bn in economic benefits.

And new research suggests the public is on board.

How Australia plans to connect 600,000 skilled foreign workers and the industries desperate for them. By Dan Jervis-Bardy, The Guardian

Justice at last for children detained on Nauru, says RACS, UNSW

Following this ruling from the UN, two critical steps are required in order to secure justice for the children whose human rights were violated. Firstly, the Australian Government should follow the UN’s recommendation to promptly compensate the young people for violating their human rights. Secondly, the Australian Government should provide permanent protection in Australia for the handful of unaccompanied minors and others who are still, after many years, on bridging visas in Australia, many with no pathways to resettlement.

“The UN’s ruling recognises the suffering of the young people who lost their childhoods to Australia’s cruel immigration system,” Ms Dale (RACS) said. “The Australian Government must now respond by providing certainty and residency to these young people who, all these years later, remain in limbo, on bridging visas, despite being refugees owed protection by Australia.”

Justice at last for children detained on Nauru, says RACS, UNSW

Turned away by Australia and rejected by Trump, these refugees have been living in limbo for 12 years. By Niv Sadrolodabaee & Carl Dixon, SBS News

"Every day, we are waiting for an update, 13 years of waiting. We are experiencing a slow death," Nikki says.

"We have lost our years, we are facing health issues, and we face thousands of challenges every day."

According to a report by UNSW's Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, for these refugees "there is no clear way to leave. Returning to the country of origin is impossible; (the chance of) third-country resettlement is remote; and surviving in Indonesia is very difficult".

"The conditions are really, really dire for the 14,000 refugees who are waiting in Indonesia, which is what makes [Australia's] decisions to stop resettling refugees from Indonesia even more cruel," Favero says.

"Australia has a really critical role in our region to provide safety to refugees so that they can rebuild their lives.

"One of the first steps has to be by lifting the ban on resettling refugees from Indonesia."

Turned away by Australia and rejected by Trump, these refugees have been living in limbo for 12 years. By Niv Sadrolodabaee & Carl Dixon, SBS News

Trump just dressed up ethnic cleansing as a real estate opportunity, and blew up ‘America First’. By Matthew Knott, SMH

As Australian National University professor Don Rothwell, a leading expert on international law, quickly stated: Trump’s idea would represent a crime against humanity, with the forced removal of Palestinian children quite possibly constituting an act of genocide under the Genocide Convention. The US, Rothwell noted, had no legal right to control Palestinians in Gaza.

Trump just dressed up ethnic cleansing as a real estate opportunity, and blew up ‘America First’. By Matthew Knott, SMH

If this terrorised American feels like fleeing, I think Australia should welcome him. By Jenna Price, The Canberra Times

How would it be if we offered refuge to citizens of the United States? I mean, we don't normally consider that we need to offer asylum to those from countries with values like ours, at least what used to be values like ours.

I'm thinking, in particular, Anthony Fauci, who was part of the White House COVID taskforce and who stood up to Trump during those horrific early years of the pandemic. Because, obviously, a real estate agent and reality TV hack would know more about infectious diseases than a doctor and a scholar. Trump's treatment of Fauci trained an entire generation of cookers, aka conspiracy theorists, to threaten and harass.

If this terrorised American feels like fleeing, I think Australia should welcome him. By Jenna Price, The Canberra Times

This language has a rich history in Australia but it's at risk of disappearing forever. By Charis Chang, SBS News

While once the most common Chinese language in Australia, Cantonese has been overtaken by a standard version of Mandarin used as China's official language since the 1950s.

Today, Cantonese is spoken mostly in Hong Kong, Macau and parts of south-eastern China. It's also widely used by the Chinese diaspora around the world, particularly in Vietnam and Malaysia.

Josephine Chau says that over the years she has come to understand how important the language is for connection to culture.

“Australia is multicultural and if we don't remember some of where our ancestors come from, it's very easy to forget that we were all new to this country at some point, and to just appreciate the differences that we have, and also the similarities.”

This language has a rich history in Australia but it's at risk of disappearing forever. By Charis Chang, SBS News

How an error kicked off asylum-seeker visa misinformation. By Michael Workman, ABC News

On Tuesday, News Corp titles inaccurately reported that the Albanese government had issued more than 20,000 visas to the families and partners of asylum seekers who arrived by boat.

The true figure was one tenth of this.

The false figure was reported by other mainstream media outlets and fuelled conspiracy theories online.

How an error kicked off asylum-seeker visa misinformation. By Michael Workman, ABC News