The government’s controversial “Malaysia solution”, in which Australia “swaps” refugees with Malaysia is being challenged in the High Court this week. Asylum seekers are being backed by the Australian…
Detention’s extensive harms to children are well documented and extend to all other detainees.
AAP
The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee tabled a report on the Migration Amendment (Detention Reform and Procedural Fairness) Bill 2010 in mid-August, hot on the heels of an announcement…
Campaigners in Sydney protesting against the Malaysian Solution.
AAP
The High Court’s extension of an injunction preventing the deportation of asylum seekers under the so-called Malaysian Solution threatens to present the Gillard Government with a major political problem…
On Monday, Australia and Malaysia signed a deal that will mean 800 refugees that have arrived in Australia will be swapped with 4,000 verified refugees from Malaysia. This deal from both Australian and…
Refugees fled the Crusades. This is a detail from St Dominic and the Albigenses by Pedro Berruguete.
Flickr/derechoaleer
Given the often hysterical media coverage of the refugee debate you could be forgiven for thinking that people seeking refuge in other countries is a new phenomenon. Not so. Refugees have been around since…
Australians don’t know enough about Indonesia to judge its farming practices.
AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka
We need to learn more about the countries we are exporting livestock to, or swapping refugees with. Two recent publicly-funded television documentaries have revealed just how little most Australians know…
The AFP is using wrist x-rays to determine whether refugee boat crew members should face a 5-year jail term.
AAP
The current Australian Federal Police practice of using X-rays of the hand/wrist to assess the age of Indonesian crew members of boats bringing refugees to Australia is based on a method developed in the…
Go Back To Where You Came From participants prepare to go on patrol in Baghdad with the US military.
AFP PHOTO/ HO/ 2011 CORDELL JIGSAW/SBS
SBS’ recent three-part series Go Back to Where You Came From is, simply, a manipulative piece of media spin calculated to redress the balance of a media spun too far towards racist insularity. The intentions…
Refugees await processing on Christmas Island. Academics, charities and other refugee advocates have condemned a plan by the Australian government to send asylum seekers to Malaysia.
AAP
A conference of academic experts on asylum seekers has published an open letter calling on the United Nations to condemn the Australian government’s plan to send 800 refugees who arrive by boat in Australia…
Participants in “Go back to where you came from” had their attitudes towards refugees challenged.
SBS: Go back to where you came from
Tonight, during World Refugee Week, SBS One premieres Go Back to Where You Came From. Over three nights the series plunges six Australian participants into the intense fear and desperation of the refugee/asylum…
Malaysian refugee activist Irene Fernandez protests outside the Australian embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
AAP
The Gillard government’s proposed “Malaysian solution” for dealing with asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat has come under considerable scrutiny. Under the agreement Australia will send 800…
Australia needs professional migrants to fill skills gaps.
AAP/David Crosling
Australia has been a nation of immigrants since 1788. It has always sought additions to its population to increase its prosperity and economic strength. But two recent controversies have distracted us…
Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement and Director of the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity, University of Birmingham