AAP

More asylum seeker families will be released into the community without the right to work, as federal Labor looks to ease its overflowing network of detention centres.

Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor made the announcement on Tuesday, saying it would be cheaper to release would-be refugees from detention.

Asylum seeker families with children under the age of 16 will now be eligible for community release under bridging visas while their refugee claims are processed.

Previously, families with children over the age of 17 were released on bridging visas while those with kids under 16 were held in community detention.

Released families will receive basic support payments, equivalent to about 89 per cent of the dole, and will not be allowed to work.

Mr O’Connor said keeping families in detention was not only expensive but took a toll on people’s mental health and wellbeing.

But he warned refugee applications would not be processed any faster for families released into the community than if they had waited in a refugee camp overseas, consistent with the government’s “no-advantage” principle.

That could mean asylum seekers may have to wait up to five years to have their claims processed.

The minister also confirmed that the Curtin and Wickham Point detention centres, in WA and the Northern Territory, would soon hold family groups.

Groups would be detained there only for as long as it takes for security, identity and health purposes, Mr O’Connor said.

After an average assessment time of 120 days, eligible families would be placed in community detention or given bridging visas.

The former Howard coalition government opened the Curtin facility in 1999 but closed it three years later following incidents of self-harm, riots and a mass escape.

Since Labor reopened it in 2010, it has only housed single men.

Wickham Point also currently houses single men.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the government had been forced to release families into the community because of its failed border protection policies.

He noted that more than 20,000 asylum seekers, including 3000 children, had arrived by boat this financial year.

“The escalation of the number of children coming on boats under this government’s border protection is unprecedented,” Mr Morrison told reporters in Melbourne.

Australian Greens Leader Christine Milne said the government’s asylum seeker policies “get worse by the minute”.

She said shoving people into the community without the ability to work or support themselves was completely unacceptable.

The Refugee Council said urged the government to include work rights for asylum seekers on bridging visas “to ensure vulnerable people are not left destitute”.

© 2013 AAP

Source: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/more-asylum-seeker-families-to-be-released-20130507-2j4v1.html

Media Releases:

HMAS Launceston, operating under the control of Border Protection Command, intercepted a suspected irregular entry vessel north of Christmas Island overnight.

Initial indications suggest there were 61 passengers and three crew on board.

The vessel was initially detected by a Customs and Border Protection Dash-8 surveillance aircraft, operating under the control of Border Protection Command.

Border Protection Command has now transferred the passengers to Australian Government authorities on Christmas Island, where they will undergo initial security, health and identity checks and their reasons for travel will be established.

May 07, 2013

Customs and Border Protection officers with support from the Australian Federal Police intercepted a suspected irregular entry vessel at Cocos (Keeling) Islands on Sunday.

Initial indications suggest there were 91 people on board.

The vessel was initially detected by a RAAF Maritime Patrol aircraft, operating under the control of Border Protection Command.

Customs and Border Protection has transferred the passengers to Australian Government authorities on Cocos (Keeling) Islands, where they will have basic health and security checks. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship will now make arrangements for them to be transferred to Christmas Island, where they will undergo further security, health and identity checks and their reasons for travel will be established.

Source: http://www.ministerhomeaffairs.gov.au/Mediareleases/Pages/default.aspx#second2013

You have to have your head stuck in the sand if you don’t think Australia has a problem on its hands.  In the past seven days, nearly 1000 people have arrived by boat to Australia, seeking protection.  These asylum seekers, under the policy of Mandatory Detention (a policy maintained by both this government and the last), are housed in detention centres or other detention-type facilities until basic health, identity and security checks can be complete.

When the Labor government came into power (in 2007), they very quickly executed their election commitment to no longer house women and children in secure detention centres, but rather in ‘alternative places of detention’ (APODs) or the community (where appropriate).  While technically still in detention, this meant that children were no longer housed behind barbed wire fences, as they had been under previous governments.

In August last year (2012), in an attempt to break a political and policy deadlock, the government announced the re-establishment of offshore processing of asylum seekers who arrive by boat.  This was a massive flip from their commitment at the 2007 election, where they promised to close the Manus and Nauru centres.  By re-opening them, they had effectively re-introduced the last of the policy framework that they had sought to dismantle after the 200 election win – offshore processing and temporary visas.

The other thing they did, without perhaps realising (and certainly without saying it) was re-introduce the detention of children.  While no children have been transferred to Nauru, the Manus Island centre (in PNG) does have children behind fences.  Under the local law (and certainly in the retoric of the Australian Government), these kids are not techically in ‘detention’, but for all intents and purposes, they are. In fact, the local government in Manus has made it clear that they want this thing to run the same as last time – when it was a full blown detention facility…

On Nauru (where I spent some time), things aren’t that different. While there aren’t kids there, one lawyer is now seeking to challenge the lawfulness of the detention of asylum seekers at the centre at Topside. In other words, they are going to try and prove that the centre is a detention centre, even if you don’t call it that.

From personal experience, I can assure you that it’s run just like a detention centre. There are fences around the perimeter, special areas for staff that ‘transferees’ are not allowed to go, security check-points to get in and out of the transferee accommodation and recreation areas and a response team who try and restore order after someone escapes. (You’ve got to ask yourself what they’re ‘escaping’ if they aren’t detained).

In other words, in practice, the Labor government have maintained a policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers, but extended it back out to children (in the case of those transferred to Manus).

But that’s actually not the only way that the government are quietly re-detaining children. Let me explain.

See, since Labor came to power and, indeed, since the August announcements, thousands of people have arrived by boat. Nearly 17,000, in fact. And the number of women and children among that number has been on the steady and dramatic increase.  (People will speculate as to why that is, but I believe it has something to do with the fact that relations with PNG aren’t strong, no more transfers are really taking place there until the resolution of some domestic issues there and a group of women recently got transferred back to the Australian mainland because they got pregnant and there are no maternity services on Manus island – all of which means the chances of a woman or child being transferred to Manus is very low, especially now).

With such a massive increase in the numbers of arrivals, the detention network (including APODs) is under enourmous strain. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (who I used to work for) is even unable to source sufficient housing to move asylum seekers into the community (under the Community Detention arrangements – two strategies which were developed to alleviate capacity stress in the detention network) fast enough to relieve the pressure.

Why do I think this? What information do I have to back up my claim? Well, recent news reports indicate that Minister O’Connor (who, in my view, has no-where near the command of the portfolio that his predecessor did) has announced that the Wickham Point (in NT) and Curtin (in WA) detention centres – the very type that were not to be used for women and children – will be re-opened to families as temporary accommodation.

In other words, because they had no more space for women and children (becase of the rate of arrival), they have had to revert back to using full-blown detention centres – wire fences and all – to accommodate women and children.

Even more evidence of the stress in the network came today when Minister O’Connor announced that the Bridging Visa E program would be used for post-August arrivals too – but only once their initial processing (health, security and identity checks) were complete.

It sounds to me like the government are unwilling to acknowledge that they aren’t able to slow the rate of boat arrivals down, they aren’t willing to accept that Manus and Nauru hasn’t created a deterrent and they aren’t willing to reconsider the policy of Mandatory Detention. In fact, they’ve now regressed even further backwards into the archaic policies of the previous government and, in the mean time, sit idly by while some of the most vulnerable people in the world languish in detention centres and in the Australian Community without so much as welfare support while they find out if the Australian Government – which holds itself out to be fair, just and a true member of the international community – decides whether or not they’re refugees.

Greg

But they aren’t.

For one thing, customs and border patrol delegate a very small portion if their budget to stopping, detaining and processing boat people. They could definitely be spending a lot more money on it, which would be beneficial to the effectiveness of the system, but the Australian public are too opposed to the idea. This is thanks to the media and the politicians we have, making a massive deal of it. We’re always hearing about boats of 30-70 people making it to shore and being taken to Christmas Island, but we never hear about the thousands of people overstaying holiday Visa’s.

Just hear me out on this one. The refugees we hear about spend all their money on jumping on a boat, which has a considerable chance of sinking, and coming to Australia with no identification, expecting to get in. For the same amount of money, refugees are going to Indo-Pacific countries, buying fake identification and holiday Visa’s and a ticket to Sydney Airport at peak air traffic times. They come here, get off the plane, go through customs, saying what they were told to say, walk out of the airport and through the Visa and identification in the bin. People do this in the thousands, as opposed to hundreds of bat people. They disappear, having given customs fake information as to their plans, as well as fake passports and other ID.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is The Otherside.

Home Affairs Minister, Jason Clare has announced, through media releases, interception of three asylum seeker boats in Australian waters.

Border Protection command rendered assistance to first boat carrying 51 passengers, noth east of Christmas Island on Thursday. The second boat, reportedly carrying 79 passengers and three crew, has been given assistance by AMSA, on firday, at north-west of Christmas Island.

They are transferred to Christmas Island for medical and identity checks.

On Saturday, another boat carrying 105 passengers has been intercepted north west of Darwin.

Border Protection Command will now make arrangements for the passengers to be transferred to Australian Government authorities in Darwin for initial health and identity checks.

Source: http://www.ministerhomeaffairs.gov.au/Mediareleases/Pages/default.aspx#second2013

It has been four years since the Tamil rebels were crushed by the Sri Lankan armed forces. The Sri Lankan government, led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, still denies that any human rights violations occurred.

In March, a second UN Human Rights Council resolution called on the Rajapaksa government “to conduct an independent and credible investigation into allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.”

This has fallen on deaf ears.

Human rights groups and the Greens have accused the Australian government of sending asylum seekers back to Sri Lanka without adequate refugee screening.

Thirty-eight of the 66 Sri Lankans, who arrived in Geraldton last month, were sent back because “they did not ask for legal help” the government said.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said: “It is crucial that the immigration minister start to clarify exactly what information asylum seekers are given when they arrive and whether they are told that they have a legal right for assistance and for putting forward a basic claim for protection.”

The government has been sending asylum seekers back to a country that still refuses to conduct a proper investigation into past war crimes.

Sri Lanka’s civil war was a consequence of colonial rule. Divisions between the Sinhala majority and Tamil minority were encouraged by the British and later solidified after independence when nationalist politicians disenfranchised Tamil plantation workers to prevent them voting for left parties.

The death toll from the civil war is estimated to have reached more than 40,000. More than 250,000 Tamils have been displaced.

One of the many displaced is Desh Balasubramaniam, the founder and director of arts and literature movement Ondru.

Balasubramaniam’s family escaped Sri Lanka’s civil war when he was 13 years old and after much uncertainty they were given humanitarian asylum in New Zealand.

“The most difficult thing is the memories of my childhood,” he said.

Balasubramaniam had to give up his youth at an early age. The atrocities of war surrounding him daily meant he witnessed things that most people could only imagine.

His father’s timber factory was burnt down, his father was kidnapped and held for ransom in the jungle and his family home was robbed at gunpoint. His young eyes saw refugee camps bursting at the seams with desperate people trying to stay alive.

But these experiences are what make Balasubramaniam a survivor and it is what has cultivated the resilience and motivation that is felt through his projects.

Ondru started in 2009 as a casual idea in Balasubramaniam’s backyard with no real direction for the project, just concepts and an aim to start an art movement that would create conversations not normally heard on the urban circuit of Melbourne’s art scene.

Balasubramaniam’s background as a refugee has influenced the direction and development of Ondru and it explores stories from refugees, migrants and indigenous communities.

The stories focus on humanity, the journey of endurance and achievements of people whose stories are so often tainted with false representations.

He said: “We want to do this through various means; arts, culture, politics, identities that mainstream media don’t want to talk about.”

One of Ondru’s accomplishments is Voiceless Journeys, a project that explores three aspects of the refugee journey: the struggle, the survival and the achievement, through 101 photographs of people who have taken the journey and are now living in Victoria.

The project celebrates refugees as active participants in the community and by exhibiting their photographs on the surfaces of buildings and urban structures it acknowledges that their diverse backgrounds contribute to the social fabric of Australia. It also asks people to look at a human face, their eyes and their identity.

Balasubramaniam said: “The refugees that I met during this project said no one has ever wanted to listen, you’re the first person to ask my story other than the time I was going through the immigration process. No one genuinely wanted to know.”

Image by Ondru

The Pacific Solution creates a legal gray zone in which asylum-seekers are currently deprived of recourse to Australian law and can be detained for upwards of five years. Rather than following recommendations from the United Nations to only utilize offshore facilities as a temporary measure, the Labor Government is establishing new, dangerous precedents by setting its policy of exploitation literally in concrete by building housing to hold upwards of 1,500 asylum-seekers on Nauru alone. The Supreme Court of Nauru has perhaps been the country’s saving grace, with the President and asylum-seekers both turning to the court to solve their problems.

Offshore-processing centers for asylum-seekers were part of the Pacific Solution instituted by the Liberal-National Coalition Government led by Prime Minister John Howard beginning in 2001. This policy was once strongly opposed by Australian Labor Party leaders who rejected the idea that offshore centers, and Nauru in particular, could “stop the people-smugglers’ business model.” In February 2008, the last refugees detained in Nauru under Howard’s plan were sent to Australia and the center closed; at the time, the Labor Government under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called the Pacific Solution  “a cynical, costly and ultimately unsuccessful exercise introduced on the eve of a Federal election by the Howard Government.” What has changed the situation so that Labor now is unafraid of using Nauru as an offshore-processing and detention center?

One concern voiced by Labor was that Nauru had not acceded to the 1951 UN convention related to refugees and its 1967 protocols. Once Nauru took steps to become party to the convention, the opposition told current Prime Minister Julia Gillard to “swallow her pride” and “pick up the phone to Nauru” instead of making a deal with Malaysia (a state that had also not acceded to the convention).  The ‘Malaysia Solution’ and ‘East Timor Vacation’ are additional stories in themselves – and unlike Nauru those governments were more difficult to sway. 

While trying to craft Labor’s version of the Pacific Solution in 2010, Gillard advocated for using East Timor as an offshore-processing center for asylum-seekers. However, the government of East Timor eventually opposed the plan and passed a unanimous resolution rejecting the proposal. East Timor Member of Parliament Jose Teixeira illustrated the difficulties with using Pacific Island nations as Australia’s own penal colonies. Teixeira said “it’s an unfair burden to put on us as an emerging society, post-conflict, as a society that has a number of social and economic pressures on it. It’s unfair to put that additional pressure” on East Timor.

The same can be said for Nauru, a small island country that has experienced political turmoil over the last two decades. Political power struggles have not been overly violent or utilized a coup d’état, in part because Australia is responsible for Nauru’s defense (meaning Nauru does not maintain defense forces).  Nauru’s political troubles have continued this year. Parliament has not held a regular meeting since early February due to the resignation of two cabinet ministers that caused the government to lose its majority.  President Sprent Dabwido attempted for weeks to dissolve Parliament, but Speaker Godfrey Thoma and the lack of quorum in Parliament stood in his way.

In addition to defense protection, Australia provides development aid to Nauru budgeted at AUD$31.8 million for 2012/13. Opponents of the offshore center argue that at a time of shrinking government budgets, Australia cannot afford to dump funds into these new ‘development projects’ where taxpayer return will be minimal. Over the past four years, “Effective Governance” has been a top goal of development funding and currently around 60% of the total budget . While I do not doubt the overall transparency of AusAID and the commitment of development practitioners, the historically higher level of funding to governance compared to “Sustainable Economic Development” and “Promoting Opportunities for All” are a pathway for the Australian government to have demonstrable influence over Nauru’s political process; this influence allowed for the reopening of offshore-processing center and creation of a permanent mass detention center complex that has impacted the country’s political and economic outlook.

Other changes on the horizon may soon be driven by the Supreme Court in Nauru. The Supreme Court will decide both the political fate of Nauru’s government as well as the fate of asylum-seekers. With many resignations, votes of no confidence and changes of administration over the last two decades, Nauru is lucky to have a functioning Supreme Court that can help facilitate the country’s constitution. To be able to dissolve Parliament and have fresh elections, President Dabwido is considering taking legal action through the Supreme Court; this application to the Supreme Court is likely to take place over the next week. As recently as May 3, Parliament failed to reach a quorum for the fourth consecutive time, continuing to give the president reason to utilize the Supreme Court.

A landmark Supreme Court case involving asylum-seekers set for June includes an application of habeas corpus. Australian barrister Jay Williams and retired US Marine Corps lawyer Michael Mori are part of a “legal dream team formed to challenge the legality of the Nauru detention center.” Mori formerly represented Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks. The team of lawyers are representing the ten detained asylum-seekers facing charges of rioting and willful damage. Williams has been facing a challenge of his own – lack of access to the defendants to prepare an adequate case – which is an infringement of the defendants’ constitutional rights. As a constitutional challenge this ruling could have strong repercussions for Australia’s offshore-processing and detention center.

While Nauru’s government shows signs that they are unable to maintain stability, Nauru additionally lacks significant infrastructure to adequately handle the additional burden of providing for a future thousand-plus residents. The construction efforts for the detention center on Nauru attest to the longevity of the Pacific Solution and the creation of an island full of detainees similar to the US facilities at Guantanamo Bay. Underground cables have been installed for electricity, and water and sewage hook-ups have been difficult among the phosphate field. Additionally, Nauru lacks a modern port; to ship prefabricated accommodation blocks into Nauru, a “causeway of rock and gravel was constructed…and had to be repaired daily.”

While considering the damage that these events are doing to Australia’s regional and international image, the Labor government is pressing onward with development of the offshore-processing and detention center in Nauru. Currently there are more than four hundred asylum-seekers on Nauru, who have now been moved into part of the permanent detention center facilities. One journalist describes the new facilities in Nauru: “unlike the flimsy weatherboard huts used in the first iteration of the Pacific Solution under the Howard government, the new buildings are built to last.” To accommodate 1,500 detainees in a detention camp, there will be a total of ten accommodation blocks costing the Australian government more than AUD$70 million to construct. According to a report, the “initial stage of the project is a twin-storey accommodation centre of about 1000sq m, containing 44 rooms grouped in three pods, connected by covered breezeways. For now, asylum-seekers will sleep two to a room of 4m x 3.5m.”  These new facilities were likely built in response to criticism from the international community and nongovernmental organizations about poor conditions being faced by refugees as well as the impact on local communities.

In December 2012, observers from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released a scathing report on the facilities and processing operations at Nauru. UNHCR representatives expressed the “need for more information and clarity for asylum-seekers about their situation, and counseling on the procedures and time frames of various steps in line with international standards.” The report also stressed that asylum-seekers should be supplied with “adequate conditions of accommodation, and the legal framework, rules and procedures for processing of transferred asylum-seekers in Nauru should be completed as a matter of urgency.” Having risked their lives on a treacherous journey by boat, asylum-seekers being sent to Nauru and Manus Island detention centers are particularly vulnerable. While they are not being placed in a war zone in Nauru, Australia should not send asylum-seekers, especially when they may have mental, physical and economic problems, into a detention center for an undetermined period without adequate legal and medical provisions.

Despite Australia’s move to improve facilities on Nauru, the most glaring problem remains; asylum seekers will be held in a legal gray zone outside of Australia’s borders and outside of the protections of Australian law. Further, off-shoring asylum-seeker processing serves to restrict journalistic access and the flow of public information to the public. These issues are the crux of the UNHCR insistence that “all asylum-seekers arriving by boat into Australian territory [should] be processed in Australia, consistent with general practice.”Add to this Australia’s dubious political and economic pressures and incentives that the government is applying liberally in order to secure the island as their national penal colony. Australia has the option to use its economic and strategic clout in the Pacific in order to benefit the region and promote humanitarian aims. Taking advantage of the economic woes and political instability in Nauru through the perpetuation and expansion of the Pacific Solution is undermining Australia’s standing among its Pacific island neighbors and in the international community.

And here we go again! After the appalling demo in Jakarta, FPI bigots urging the murder of Buddhists, this time it’s the FUI, ranting and raving about how their jihadist jerks will swarm off to Burma!

Not a chance. The FUI are similar to the FPI,  ratbags who would never take on an enemy likely to fight back.

The tragedy of Rohingya Muslims and burning of mosques in Yamethin, Myanmar, sparked dozens of Muslims in Palu, Central Sulawesi to take to the streets on Friday afternoon.

• Oh, yes, they’re on about Syria too…

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Yes, burning of mosques is certainly nasty business.

Ahmadiyah mosque destroyed by Islamist louts in West Java

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Did the FUI or FPI protest against the dirty savages who burnt THIS mosque?

………………

The protesters were members of the Central Sulawesi FUI (FUIST)…they made speeches in the city center of Palu, on Jalan Hasanuddin.

Dedi, one of the protesters, said the massacre of the people in Myanmar is a violation of Human Rights…”We urge the Indonesian Government to participate in helping to resolve these problems by encouraging the granting of independence to the Muslim Rohingya.“

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So now they are promoting the break-up of one of Indonesia’s ASEAN partner countries?  The regime in Jakarta won’t be happy if others in the region reciprocate the FUI’s incitement to separatists, for example in Papua.

Just in case the Burmese decline to have their country carved up, then FUIST called on Muslims to conduct jihad to stop the injustice that has befallen the Muslim Rohingya and Meikhtilah.

After the speeches, the protesters planned to continue their action at the Buddhist temple on Jalan Sungai Lariang. But Palu Police prevented them.

Good for the Palu Police – the Buddhists should not have to worry that sectarian hoodlums like FUI might harass their place of worship.

Meanwhile….Rohingya still crowd the ‘asylum’ centres here.

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Again, I suggest the fanatics offer their own homes to take in these uninvited guests. FPI claims to have 20,000 members, who, if they each acted with even a mote of charity, would obviate the need for any more drivel about letting Rohingya snouts loose in the Aussie welfare trough.

.

The grey-area concept of discretion crops up frequently in the work I do at Refugee Support Network. Although it can act in young people’s favour, creating room for manoeuvre and negotiation, it can also be used to exclude them from certain entitlements and progression routes.

Click here to read my recent blog post on this topic.

(Wiki Commons, 2009)

Immigration is a public ‘hot topic’; a furiously debated issue which is constantly presented in both local and national news reports. Consequences of this topic (especially since the recent development of Romania/Bulgaria) serve to divide opinions, with the affects being perceived as either strongly positive or negative. Arguably speaking, the ‘backlash’ on immigration has been greater than the outward support – this can be seen at a variety of scales.

Locally, I was unfortunate enough to experience this ‘backlash’ when driving through my nearby town in Derbyshire. On a visibly large billboard was an advertisement run by the British National Party advising (or stating) that ‘we’ as a nation should say “no to immigration” and to the ruling of the EU. Following on from this, on almost every lamppost was a St Georges flag – which I later discovered was organised by ‘everyday’ people in support for the BNP ideology. Although this was removed by the next day, I was still shocked by this latest attack on fellow humans, especially considering that said town, has a strong and vibrant Polish community. This is not a singular case; if you open up any tabloid newspaper or listen to specific groups of people in the street they too hold a similar view, fuelling what I perceive to be a misplaced, old fashioned stereotype. Despite this, I cannot understand this blatant lack of human consideration – as how can people in a central British town be so narrow minded and insensitive to something which often brings about a wealth of positives to our country?

However, recently it has come to light that I am not alone in my concern for this disrespect of the human nature, which is being increasingly portrayed by larger proportions of society. The Guardian (2013) has argued that we as a nation (both as individuals and as a government) are actually failing in our “moral duty” (p.1) to protect vulnerable migrants, particularly asylum seekers who flee from devastating conditions. Whilst in another, the paper reports that the governmental reactions to the recent expanding of the EU (involving Romania/Bulgaria) act as a mechanism which is further driving stereotypes and racist attitudes (Guardian, 2013). Through making observable distinctions between the British nationals who are perceived as being ‘in place’ and migrants who are seen as being ‘out of place’ it acts as a further device which is dividing us both at local and national scales (Coles, 2007). Such extremist attitudes have been condemned by the Europe’s Human Rights Watchdog, who argues that the recent events and happening are a “shameful rhetoric” (Guardian, 2013; p1) which is unacceptable in modern times.

Overall, there seems to be evidence of inhumane treatment towards migrants at local and national scales, which appear to be embodied through governmental practice and increasingly negative public attitudes (Webber, 2012). Through our quest to be presented as a quintessentially British nation, we appear to forget our history whilst at the same time disregard the feelings and motives of others. But, at a time when we as a nation need to be united, can we not accept our heritage and multicultural nature? As appearing fragmented to the outside world only makes us more vulnerable during these dangerous periods.

Reference List

Cole, P. (2007). Human rights and the national interest: migrants, healthcare and social justice. Journal of medical ethics, 33(5), 269-272.

The Guardian (2013) European watchdog accuses Britain of shameful rhetoric on migrants. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/mar/29/eu-watchdog-britain-shameful-rhetoric-migrants?INTCMP=SRCH (accessed 17/02/2013)

The Guardian (2013) The UK’s approach to Bulgarian and Romanian immigration makes me sick with shame http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/feb/05/uk-bulgarian-romanian-immigration-shame (accessed 17/02/2013)

The Guardian (2013) The UK is failing in its duty to protect vulnerable asylum seekers http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/04/uk-failing-duty-vulnerable-refugees (accessed 17/02/2013)

Webber, F. (2012). Borderline justice. Race & Class, 54(2), 39-54.

Wiki Commons (2009) The Cross of St George. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Cross_of_St_George.jpg (accessed 20/02/2013)

Caralyn Lagrange, who has signed up to rent out a room to an asylum seeker. Picture: Will Russell Source: PerthNow

The Sunday Times last month revealed boat people would become live-in companions for retirees and “help out” on farms under a new homestay scheme supported by the Immigration Department.

It is run by the Australian Homestay Network, which finds accommodation for asylum seekers who are released into the community on bridging visas while their refugee claims are assessed.

Executive chairman David Bycroft said yesterday the “great response” from applicants proved the scheme was “definitely a goer”, with the first homestay placements to start in a fortnight.

Under the scheme, West Australians with a spare room are being urged to sign up for the Homestay Helping Hand program.

Hosts are paid $50 a week for each asylum seeker in exchange for providing board and food.

Asylum seekers, in return, “help out around the home or farm”, “pick up the shopping”, or “provide company for someone who’s lonely”.

“We’ve had hundreds of responses and now we’re going through them all to see who is suitable, but what we’ve proven without a doubt is that there is a market for this,” Mr Bycroft said.

Among them is Perth’s Caralyn Lagrange who has signed up to take an asylum seeker to help out at her 1.2ha, semi-rural property in Bedfordale.

Mr Bycroft said he had also had a flood of negative comments from Australians who would “rather sink the boats”.

“The positive applications have outweighed the negative, but the negative can be very cruel,” he said.

“They are ignorant Australians who would rather sink the boats. They’re at that level.”

“Our experience is that these asylum seekers are very, very genuine and hard-working and want to start a new life and do well. The good news is that many Australians have put up their hand to help out.”

The scheme is separate from another homestay program called the Community Placement Network, which started in May last year, but has stalled with just over 30 placements so far this year.

Mr Bycroft said thousands of asylum seekers would soon be living in the community  because the boats showed no sign of slowing, and putting up asylum seekers as boarders was a far better alternative to “conglomerated housing that comes with its own set of problems”

Coalition for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees spokeswoman Rosemary Hudson Miller welcomed the plan.

Source: http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/boarder-fix-for-asylum-seekers/story-fnhocxo3-1226635578042

On the 21st March 2013, final day of parliament before a seven week break, Minister Simon Crean called for a leadership spill to end the months of speculation and bad polling for the Labor Government. Prime Minister Julia Gillard agreed (probably thinking ‘Gawwwwd, not agaaain’).

As we know, Minister Kevin Rudd (the main contender and usually referred to in the press as Former Prime Minister Rudd) did not contest the leadership. He announced that he had promised to not contest the leadership again and that was that. He also said the promise only held if the numbers were not in his favour. This made sense to me but I hadn’t heard the terms before. I did therefore, find this at odds with his actions this day; suggesting a halo could be appropriate. It seems it was always a conditional promise. In any case the status quo was maintained for P.M. Gillard and Treasurer Wayne Swan.

Minister Simon Crean, apparently by his own actions, was hung out to dry in political wasteland. Did he think Kevin Rudd had the numbers, was he acting on his own or was he pushed into the brave new world of one (1) player walking the plank?

As far as Kevin Rudd, his supporters and Simon Crean are concerned, the status quo was not maintained. Those of the challenger ilk got the boot, demoted, maybe lost some perks and were sent to the naughty benches to ponder September.

For the supporters of Julia Gillard, that is the junior MP’s; their status quo also changed. Inexperienced MP’s propelled into Ministerial positions and pay packets. Talk about luck, an employer with a high turnover of staff. With the odds in favour of being voted out in six months, their golden handshakes have just received an enormous increase. They ought to buy Simon Crean a beer or two, but I think it would have to be by proxy.

Currently, P.M. Gillard is enjoying some rare success and good press over the NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme). If she gets this up, she may finish before the elections on a good note and maybe, just maybe, think she has a chance of re-election.

As an average voter a few stand-outs from Labour that will be with me at the polling booth.

# PM Kevin Rudd, wheeling, dealing and dominating without consultation; acting as a know it all.

# The disgusting and undignified manner in which the Labor Party axed P.M. Kevin Rudd and shoe-horned Julia Gillard into the PM’s chair. Mr Rudd was the face voters asked for. Whoever pulled the strings here (an inside job) have outdone The Dismissal of Gough Whitlam.

# The dignified manner in which Kevin Rudd conducted himself after his rude de-throning.

#”Moving Forward”- One of the most boring, annoying, blockheaded, irritating and stinky election slogans ever.

# The asylum seeker boats fiasco. Childishly revamped from a working, fairly successful scheme (by the Libs) to an out of control free for all.

# Minority govt’s don’t work very well when shackled to other parties of different persuasions.

# P.M. Gillard being dragged to safety, one shoe on, after an incident in Canberra.

# Yet more taxes for everyone, Carbon and Mineral, but watered down to being ineffective. Medicare levy to be increased to ‘help’ pay for the NDIS. How long has the Australian public been wondering when the pollies will get to the Medicare levy?

# Bonuses being paid to compensate for taxes that didn’t live up to the Opposition forecast of doom and gloom.

#An education revolution that hasn’t yet happened. Also, PM Gillards words approx. “we are not reducing the monies spent on Universities, just spreading it out differently”. Does this revolution also mean that those educated before the successful revolution, are poorly educated?

#Even if Kevin Rudd had the numbers, would he want to be the one remembered as going down with the ship?

Meanwhile, Australia has still been ticking along and so most of the daily business of government has been proceeding. The media continues to provide sensational cannon fodder for me and these views are totally from my own armchair.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/03/22/06/27/oppn-to-push-no-confidence-motion-may-14

http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8630917

BBH Rating:   Labours Performance to date     ~    5/10

Word for today:     ILK       Of the same family, class or kind.

More to come;      same blog time, same blog channel

In the wake of the Gillard Government’s plans to send more and more asylum seeker children to be locked up behind razor wire, Welfare Groups are reporting a dramatic upsurge in the number of Australians wanting to help asylum seekers and speaking out against the government’s inhumane treatment of these desperate and vulnerable people.

The reports come as the Gillard Government faces renewed pressure to review its current policy of “dumping” asylum seeker families into the community with no support for food, accommodation or clothing.

The Sunday Age last week reported that many of the nation’s 10,327 asylum seekers currently released into the community on bridging visas due to overcrowding in detention centres were struggling on the fortnightly allowance they received from the government, the equivalent of 89 per cent of the lowest dole payment – $27 a day.

Under the Gillard Government’s policies, asylum seekers released into the community are forbidden from finding work, despite many desperate to find some form of employment to support themselves rather than depend on handouts from taxpayers.  As such many asylum seeker families find it difficult to make ends meet on $27 a day for rent, bills, food and clothing and depend on the generosity from community groups and volunteers.

The charity that helps those on bridging visas to survive in Australia, the Tamil Refugee Council, has been inundated with offers of help from the community during the fast few months.

Spokesman Trevor Grant has received more than 300 emails and hundreds of phone calls this week alone from across Australia offering donations of furniture, blankets, whitegoods, clothing, baby items and cash.

”I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. ”It shows that a lot of people care, and when they’re given the opportunity to help, they’ll do whatever they can.”

Nasser Mashni is among those who contacted the charity to donate goods. The son of a Palestinian refugee who was afforded protection by Australia in the 1950s, Mr Mashni said: ”Australians as a collective, have a moral and social responsibility to help each other.

”We measure our society not by how each of us are going, but by our weakest, and if we see somebody who has fallen, it’s our duty to put a hand out.”

Midwife Nicola Dutton said learning that a pregnant woman was sleeping on the floor ”really struck a chord for me to do something.”

She and her clients are gathering a variety of items to donate.

”There are some people who think asylum seekers should just go back where they came from, and that’s what the government appears to be responding to, but there are so many more who think otherwise,” she said.

”They haven’t done anything illegal and they’re entitled to basic human rights and healthcare and the government needs to know there are compassionate people who want to help.”

Pamela Curr, from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said about 600 people turned up at a volunteer information night last week, suggesting the government’s asylum seeker policies were at odds with what the Australian people wanted.

During a visit to the suburbs of Western Sydney recently, Prime Minister Gillard “re-assured” the audience at a community forum that asylum seekers would be forbidden to find work to support themselves.

“There is a very good reason for that,” she said.

Nearly 500 asylum seekers have arrived in Australia over the past three days.

The Minister for Home Affairs, Jason Clare, announced three new asylum seeker arrivals on Friday, which intercepted three ships with a total of 497 passengers.

On Wednesday a border protection ship intercepted a vessel north-west of Christmas Island carrying 184 passengers and two crew.

The same day, another border protection ship responded to a call for assistance from another asylum seeker vessel, north-east of Christmas Island, carrying 153 passengers and two crew.

Passengers from both were sent to Christmas Island for processing.

On Friday a further 160 people were found on a vessel in distress west-north-west of Darwin.

The latest interceptions bring this week’s asylum seeker arrivals to 736, after three other vessels were intercepted on Monday and Tuesday, with a combined total of 239 passengers on board

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/national/nearly-500-asylum-seekers-arrive-in-three-days-20130503-2iyed.html

So Sky News (above) tells us that the bad guys in Somalia are down and out, at least according to the Somali President.

If that’s the case, then there is no further cause for Western countries to take in, or continue to harbour, ‘asylum-seekers’ from Somalia. right?

Read these before you answer!

Mr and Mrs Khaliif refused to speak to the Mail yesterday. A handwritten note on their front door read ‘Media do not knock. We have nothing to say.’  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2025895/Housing-benefits-Somali-asylum-seeker-Saeed-Khaliifs-family-2m-house.html

——————————-

The Somalian sex offender we can’t deport thanks to Strasbourg judges

A foreign criminal committed a sexual assault on a British woman after European judges blocked his deportation.

Hersi claims his life will be in danger if he is sent back to Mogadishu Photo: BPM

SEND THEM BACK!!

Asylum seekers arrive on Christmas Island. Source: Supplied

The overloaded fishing boat was found north west of Christmas Island on Wednesday.

Asylum seekers were taken to Christmas Island for initial healthy, security and identity checks.

The mega boat follows a record month of arrivals in April with 3316 people reaching Australia by boat.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/national-news/asylum-seeker-boat-arrival-near-christmas-island-the-biggest-this-year/story-fncynjr2-1226634610188

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Although the Chicom mass-murderer didn’t really break sweat during his famous Long March, leaving the dumbo red foot-soldiers to do the hard slogging through the wilds of China while he took it nice n easy, at least the distance covered merited the title.

Today’s ‘Long March’http://www.metrotvnews.com/metronews/read/2013/05/03/5/151065/Bom-Pipa-Rencananya-Diledakkan-di-Kedutaan-Myanmar-Pagi-Ini  is something like, let’s say, from Oxford Circus to Hyde Park, or from the Canadian side of Niagara Falls to the American side, or from the QVB in Sydney over to the far side of David Jones department store..

I may be a few yards out, but I could stroll to Jalan Agus Salim, where the Myanmar’s Jakarta Embassy is located, from the Bunderan H.I. (the Hotel Indonesia roundabout) in about fifteen minutes, though numerous Indonesian ladies have said I’m a fast walker, or something like that!

However, the route may be short but so are IslamoNazi tempers, so various diplomatc sources are warning their citizens to avoid the vicinity this afternoon.

………………….

Jalan Jaksa

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The northern stretch of Jl. Agus Salim, more commonly known by its original name, Jalan Sabang, runs parallel to Jalan Jaksa, popular haunt of expats without bloated NGO salaries, so if any of you guys or gals are reading this, mind how ya go!

It should all be over by now, but the white-shirts hate bars, and if they are frustrated at the embassy, who knows what they might get up to?

Oya, the storm-troops of the FPI (Defenders of Islam Front) are all fretty today about the Rohingyaa, those ‘refugees’ from Burma, whose desperation for safe haven is conditional in that it must come guaranteed with welfare troughs courtesy of  Aussie tax-payers.

================

Previous IslamoNazi pro-Rohingya protest

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Earlier today, there was a bomb scare near the scene, a pipe-bomb apparently discovered near Myanmor’s outpost.

As I’ve said before, the FPI could solve the Rohingya problem overnight, just by each Islamonazi thug taking one Rohinngya each into their humble homes as a permanent guest.

But they may be loathe to put their hospitality where their mouths are, partly due to the grim reputation Rohingys now have here, after a pack of them went on a murder spree in a Sumatra – http://rossrightangle.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/murderous-savages-en-route-to-oz/  who wants to give a free berth to savages?

Well, yes, the left-lib oiks in Aussie do, but they’re either simpletons or subversives.

We asked the question ‘what did you do today?’

Here are some of the responses:

Today I had a group meeting with other people in my situation of immigration.  It was held by Assist. I learned their experience. We then had refreshments.

Shame Gatawa

Today I have gone to the dentist to have my teeth out. It was first time to have a tooth out and I didn’t feel very comfortable about it. The dentist was unusually kind to me and I just realized why that was; half of my face is numb and I keep chewing my tongue, everything I eat tastes of blood. I might turn into a vampire by tomorrow morning.

Mehdi

Today I did not sleep well after coming from work at 6 am.  I was worry I cannot go to college or make it to the meeting but I managed to do quite a lot and very happy – the most is when I helped a group of people who come from Belgium to raise money for a mosque and finally got to do all my other things on time.

Souley

Today I woke up at 8.30 am. The first thing was brushing my teeth, took a shower. After breakfast I took a walk to the allotment. We did quite a lot of work at the allotment.  At 2.30 pm I came to the Welcome Centre in preparation for the International Meal, which started at 7 pm. We had a game of pool, which was very entertaining and the meal was finally served. Very delicious food.

M.T.

Today I woke up at 12 o’clock and cooked for myself and took my electricity bil

l to conversation club here to be sorted out. I’ve received a bill roughly £1,700 which is definitely wrong. Anyway, me with my English teacher Bryan phoned on behalf of me. It’s supposed to be arranged as pay as I go or pre-payment method. I’ve read the meter and I’m supposed to be phoned tomorrow.

R Karami

Today I got up, morning, and I had breakfast, cheese and yogurt and eggs, and I go to town at about 8.30 and bought shoes and go to my friend’s house. I drink tea and then go to the college but there’s no class because our teacher is not in Sheffield and I came back home. I eat some vegetables at my house.
[anonymous]

Today I wake up at 9 o’clock, doing all the cleaning and go to my friend’s house. Then I look after my friend’s small daughter because she was going to the hospital. In the afternoon I read a nice book about street kids. In the evening I came to a party called International Meal. It’s a very nice thing, I like it.

T.D.

Today I was asked to help with a small class of Roma children. When I got there the teacher was called away and left me in charge. She told me to take them to the ICT room and get them to play maths games. I know little about the computers or the programmes and the children were all playing other things. I had to send three out for misbehaving.  I was very glad when the hour was up!
[anonymous]

Today I went to the international meal where I can meet all the cheerful faces. I’m looking forward to meet every month.

[anonymous]

Today I went to my painting or art class, which is organized by the Jesus Army. I actually enjoy attending in this group because since I started going there I found out my talent. Also we’ve already meant to cook tonight with expert Persian chef, but we’ve missed each other. He believes he phoned me this morning but I’ve not got any missed call or I didn’t my phone switch off.

M. Habibi

Media Release:

HMAS Albany, operating under the control of Border Protection Command, intercepted a suspected irregular entry vessel north-west of Bathurst Island overnight.

Indications suggest there are 51 passengers and two crew on board.

The vessel was detected by a Customs and Border Protection Dash-8 surveillance aircraft, operating under the control of Border Protection Command.

Border Protection Command will now make arrangements for the passengers to be transferred to Australian Government authorities on Christmas Island, where they will undergo initial security, health and identity checks and their reasons for travel will be established.

People arriving by boat without a visa after 13 August 2012 run the risk of transfer to a regional processing country.

Source: http://www.ministerhomeaffairs.gov.au/Mediareleases/Pages/2013/Second%20Quarter/1May2013-BorderProtectionCommandinterceptsvessel.aspx