Let them stay for good, ASRC

Ten years ago, Australians took to the streets to demand that no child be sent back to offshore detention and it worked. Now these young adults and their families have rebuilt their lives in Australia, all while surviving on temporary visas. It’s time to let them stay for good.

Around 700 people remain in Australia who were transferred to Nauru and Papua New Guinea under Australia’s brutal offshore processing regime and were later brought to Australia for urgent medical treatment.

They remain stuck on short-term exit visas with no pathway to permanency, despite having nowhere else to go. 

“We are part of Australia in every way, except on paper.”

Despite all they have been through, they are here and contributing to the Australian community, paying taxes and building their lives. It's time to let them stay for good. 

Despite all they have been through, they are here and contributing to the Australian community, paying taxes and building their lives. It's time to let them stay for good. 

The Government has shown a willingness to support people in similar situations to be granted permanent protection on humanitarian grounds, including the Iranian women’s soccer team. 

Now, with nowhere else to go, the government must intervene to guarantee permanency to this community that has suffered so much harm at the hands of Australia’s brutal offshore detention regime. 

If we can show our political representatives that these 700 people are part of our community and that the community is behind them, they are more likely to finally act to end this injustice. Can you write to your MP today, to demand they let them stay for good?

Let them stay for good, ASRC

Fifty years on, Lam Tac Tam reflects on life in Australia as the first Vietnamese refugee to arrive by boat. By Bertin Huynh, The Guardian

….in the port of Kuching, the captain of an Australian timber ship warned them a voyage across open ocean to Guam would be a death sentence for the small fishing boat. He pointed them south.

“Don’t worry, Australian government will accept you,” Lam says the Australian ship captain told them. He advised it would be safer to sail to Australia, and his advice came with a gift: a maritime map of south-east Asia, an upgrade from the one torn from a school atlas.

…/.Arriving in Darwin, the first person they spoke to wasn’t an immigration officer, but a local skipper who give them the 10 cents needed to call the Australian authorities (and a pack of cigarettes for a first smoko).

Charities found them food and board, but within a week, Lam and his crew went out to find work, not wanting to be a burden on the locals.

“They always help us. We don’t want to make trouble for them,” he says. The men took on construction jobs as speaking English was not required. It was a stark contrast to the life Lam left behind in Vietnam as the son of a business man,…

Dr Claire Higgins, a historian and academic at the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, says Lam’s arrival was no surprise to the Australians.

“[Malcolm] Fraser felt there was a moral obligation to aid the refugees given Australia’s military involvement in Vietnam,” she says.

Fifty years on, Lam Tac Tam reflects on life in Australia as the first Vietnamese refugee to arrive by boat. By Bertin Huynh, The Guardian

PNG hotel owner looks to sue Australian government for $11m in unpaid refugee accommodation costs. By Marian Faa and Theckla Gunga, ABC News

He launched a civil case against the PNG immigration department last year in a bid to recover the outstanding money, but the department argued Australia was responsible.

On Wednesday Justice Pauline Bre adjourned an application to make the Commonwealth of Australia and the Australian Department of Home Affairs defendants in the case.

If it is approved, it would open the door for Mr Kopyoto to pursue the Australian government for the unpaid fees…

..While the exact amount of money given to the PNG government for refugees has not been disclosed, Senator Shoebridge expects the figure to be substantial.

"What we do know from history, whether it's Manus Island or Christmas Island or Nauru … is that the so-called Pacific Solution costs hundreds of millions here, billions of dollars there," he said.

PNG hotel owner looks to sue Australian government for $11m in unpaid refugee accommodation costs. By Marian Faa and Theckla Gunga, ABC News

What hopes and dreams brought him to Australia, and what went wrong? By Christopher Knaus, Gaurav Pokharel in Kathmandu & Cait Kelly, The Guardian

Bikram Lama had a morning ritual.

The rough sleepers of Hyde Park remember it well.

The young Nepali man would emerge from his sleeping bag, perched in the bushes near the bustling tunnel entrance to Sydney’s St James station………

…Asylum seekers are also restricted in their ability to access mainstream supports.

The Refugee Council of Australia estimates that about 5,000 people seeking asylum across Australia are living either in crisis or destitution, though exact figures on homelessness are not readily available.

The Centre for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees, a support service, says it is increasingly fielding requests for help from asylum seekers at risk of homelessness.

The centre’s chief executive, Suha Ali, says the situation is “hugely unjust”.

In Western Australia, the centre successfully lobbied the state government to let asylum seekers access hospital emergency departments without a Medicare card but that gap still exists in other states.

What hopes and dreams brought him to Australia, and what went wrong? By Christopher Knaus, Gaurav Pokharel in Kathmandu & Cait Kelly, The Guardian

After three years of war, Sudan army and RSF locked in military impasse. By Alnoor Ahmed Alnoor, Aljazeera

…On the humanitarian front, the war has reached catastrophic levels. A joint report by the International Committee of the Red Cross, UNICEF, and Intersos found that about 14 million people have been displaced over three years. Simultaneously, 26 million people face acute food insecurity, while 33.7 million require humanitarian assistance, including 7.4 million people internally displaced.

After three years of war, Sudan army and RSF locked in military impasse. By Alnoor Ahmed Alnoor, Aljazeera

On asylum, the Coalition is offering old fixes to problems of its own making. By Abul Rizvi, P & I

The Coalition’s asylum plan repackages familiar measures that have failed before, while sidestepping its role in creating a large and growing backlog of unsuccessful applicants…

…In announcing these policies, Taylor will want the Australian public to forget that he was Assistant Law Enforcement Minister when Australia experienced the start of the biggest labour trafficking scam abusing the asylum system in our history.

On asylum, the Coalition is offering old fixes to problems of its own making. By Abul Rizvi, P & I

‘We waited 12 years’: escapees from Syria’s camps face an uncertain future. By Arbjona Cibuku in Tirana, William Christou and Ashifa Kassam, The Guardian

The collapse of al-Hawl, and uncertainty over al-Roj, means women and children risk being left to navigate a conflict zone alone, said Beatrice Eriksson of the rights organisation Repatriate the Children. She said many women had contacted their governments for help, often without response.

Eriksson said these children and their mothers were facing an “immediate threat”. “Responsible countries need to step in now and assist their citizens to get home, there’s no more time to waste. There are non-state groups in Syria who have an interest in recruiting, coercing and exploiting these children and their mothers,” she added.

Research by Human Rights Watch found many repatriated children were able to reintegrate successfully, despite being held in conditions so dire the organisation warned their cumulative psychological impact may “amount to torture”.

‘We waited 12 years’: escapees from Syria’s camps face an uncertain future. By Arbjona Cibuku in Tirana, William Christou and Ashifa Kassam, The Guardian

Analysis: The nannasphere is an antidote to the world's grief and horrors. By Julia Baird, ABC News

I think the essayist Rebecca Solnit is right. We can peer into groups like the manosphere any time and bemoan the hate, the misogyny, the racism, the homophobia and superficial values, along with broader polarisation and distrust. But surely one of the best ways to combat them is to foster communities driven by decency, calm and care. Watch some of these blokes say horrible things about women in front of their nan, see how that goes. Find out if they would accept anyone describing their nans the way they describe other women.

The nannasphere isn't just for grandmothers, but anyone who wishes to join. It's just a nanna vibe.

So, this is my call to those of you wondering what on earth to do about the grief and horrors of the world, how to manage overwhelm. It's not about looking away or distracting yourself. It's not about disconnecting, but about pooling strength, gathering together.

Gather the nannas around you — nannas in spirit, male and female, young and old — and nurture a community. Look after each other.

Analysis: The nannasphere is an antidote to the world's grief and horrors. By Julia Baird, ABC News

As a 'clog wog', Australians didn't know I was a migrant, so they confided their racism. By Annette Jorgensen, SBS News

I was a 'clog wog', so more accepted than the Mediterranean 'wogs', who were more visible.

Greek kids were bullied the most because they looked different.

Then the Vietnamese came, and suddenly the hierarchy changed. Northern Europeans weren't 'wogs' anymore, and Mediterranean 'wogs' were preferred to the Asians.

Then the Afghans came, and this new round saw the Mediterranean 'wogs' lose their title, and the newcomers become the biggest 'problem'.

Now it's Africans, who are the most visibly different.

Same bigotry, different targets.

As a 'clog wog', Australians didn't know I was a migrant, so they confided their racism. By Annette Jorgensen, SBS News

Sydney healthcare workers push for refugee Medicare access amid growing health concerns. By Phoebe Pin, ABC News

Doctors at a Sydney health clinic have estimated one in three of the centre's refugee patients do not have access to Medicare.

Many refugees can access free health care before they are granted permanent residency in Australia, but others are ineligible due to visa conditions.

Healthcare workers say patients often present with serious symptoms preventable with early intervention.

Sydney healthcare workers push for refugee Medicare access amid growing health concerns. By Phoebe Pin, ABC News

From Gaza to Minab – children are paying the price of war. By Ramzy Baroud, P & I

The scale of children killed, wounded and orphaned in modern conflicts demands more than outrage – it requires a refusal to accept their deaths as normal.

Those who had the misfortune of growing up in a war zone require no explanation. War is hell, it is true – but for children, it is something else entirely: a confusing, disorienting fate that defies comprehension.

There are children who live only briefly, experiencing whatever life manages to offer them: the love of parents, the camaraderie of siblings, the fragile joys and inevitable hardships of existence.

There are over 20,000 children in this category who have been  killed in Gaza over the span of roughly two years, according to figures released by the Gaza Health Ministry and repeatedly cited by United Nations agencies. Some were born and killed within the same short timeframe.

….If the killing of children in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and across the Middle East is normalised, then it will become just another accepted feature of war. And since “war is hell,” we will all move on, accepting that our children – anywhere in the world – now stand on the front lines of victimhood whenever it suits the calculations of war.

I have thought about this often in recent years – during the devastation in Gaza, the wars across the region, and the killing of students at a school in the Iranian city of Minab.

From Gaza to Minab – children are paying the price of war. By Ramzy Baroud, P & I

Suggested Cabinet submission for 2026-27 migration and humanitarian program. By Abul Rizvi, Independent Australia

In the next few weeks and before the Farrer by-election, the Albanese Government will likely consider a cabinet submission on the 26-27 migration program. Abdul Rizvi, a former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Immigration, helped develop a decade’s worth of migration Cabinet submissions between 1995 and 2006. But none would have been as difficult to draft as the one for 2026-27.

Suggested Cabinet submission for 2026-27 migration and humanitarian program. By Abul Rizvi, Independent Australia

Mother-of-three faces deportation after decade-old visa mistake. By Daniel Pizarro & Sydney Lang, SBS News

A local South Australian community is rallying around for a woman who could be deported to Taiwan in less than a fortnight, leaving behind her husband and 3 young children.Ying-Hsi Chou is pleading with Immigration Minister Tony Burke to allow her to stay in Murray Bridge, after being told she breached her visa over a decade ago.

Mother-of-three faces deportation after decade-old visa mistake. By Daniel Pizarro & Sydney Lang, SBS News

Why Iran makes Pauline Hanson more dangerous. By Marcia Langton, The Saturday Paper

Two events in March appear to be only tangentially related, yet their coincidence caused me great consternation. First, the United States and Israel commenced military operations against Iran, stating that their goal was to destroy its nuclear and missile capabilities, eliminate threats to Israel, and pursue regime change. In the same month, the election in South Australia resulted in several lower house seats and one upper house seat being won by Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party.

Why Iran makes Pauline Hanson more dangerous. By Marcia Langton, The Saturday Paper

Iranian tourist ban doesn’t align with the ‘Australian values’ Hedieh signed up to as a citizen. By Adeshola Ore and Sarah Basford Canales, The Guardian

Jamshidian, who has lived in Australia for eight years, says the government’s decision makes the country feel like a “home that doesn’t support you”.

“The Australian government was so quick to support this illegal war and shockingly quick to ban Iranian people who might have wanted to shelter from this war temporarily somewhere safer,” she says.

“I don’t feel this is aligned with the ‘Australian values’ I committed to when I was granted Australian citizenship, such as ‘equality of all people’ and ‘equality of opportunity and a fair go’.”

Iranian tourist ban doesn’t align with the ‘Australian values’ Hedieh signed up to as a citizen. By Adeshola Ore and Sarah Basford Canales, The Guardian

Australia wasting migrant talent on an 'industrial scale', former Treasury secretary says. By Gareth Hutchens, ABC News

Australia is wasting the skills of highly qualified permanent migrants by taking too long to recognise their qualifications.

We need to overhaul our skills recognition system to help highly qualified workers fill critical skills shortages, experts say.

Martin Parkinson, a former Treasury secretary, says that as Australia faces the risk of stagflation, these reforms would help to boost our record-low labour productivity growth and combat rising inflation.

Australia wasting migrant talent on an 'industrial scale', former Treasury secretary says. By Gareth Hutchens, ABC News

Different beliefs, shared humanity: why so many Australians celebrate diverse religious festivals. By Dellaram Vreeland, The Guardian

Faith Communities Council of Victoria multi faith officer Sandy Kouroupidis says there is a growing tendency for people who do not formally identify with a religion to attend religious festivals and community observances.

“In Victoria, we are seeing increasing curiosity about cultural and spiritual traditions, particularly during major festivals such as Ramadan iftars, Diwali celebrations and Passover meals,” he says.

“Many of these events are now intentionally welcoming to the broader public. Faith communities themselves are inviting neighbours, colleagues and local leaders to participate as a gesture of hospitality and relationship-building.”

Different beliefs, shared humanity: why so many Australians celebrate diverse religious festivals. By Dellaram Vreeland, The Guardian