Forty-eight hours to send newly arrived refugees back the way they came and a plan to conceal when boats are 鈥渢urned around鈥 at sea, were among immigration minister Scott Morrison's statements at his first weekly briefing under 鈥淥peration Sovereign Borders鈥 on September 23.
Jay Fletcher
Just before the federal election that put Tony Abbott in power, his soon-to-be immigration minister Scott Morrison said the government may stop telling the public when asylum boats arrive in Australia.
Instead, reporting details about boat arrivals 鈥 including numbers on board, their nationalities and whether any are children 鈥 would be an 鈥渙perational decision鈥 of the defence officers in charge of the Coalition's 鈥淥peration Sovereign Borders鈥.
The two big parties have long considered refugees鈥 rights forfeit. This election year has been a time of unprecedented sacrifice of refugees, as each 鈥減olicy鈥 idea from Labor and the Liberals becomes more extreme than the last.
After signing up Papua New Guinea and Nauru to bogus resettlement deals, PM Kevin Rudd has most recently sent families to Nauru and continues to oversee legally dubious deportations.
It took a federal magistrate five minutes to dismiss charges against veteran unionist Bob Carnegie in a Brisbane courtroom on August 16.
Carnegie faced 18 charges related to contempt of court, which were pushed by anti-union building firm Abigroup.
Abigroup had accused Carnegie of defying court orders to avoid the site of a community picket that was campaigning for safety and conditions on behalf of the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union and its workers.
Nauru's terrible poverty, stagnant economy and unstable administration has paved the way for its main aid-provider, the Australian government, to sign it up for a similar refugee 鈥渄eal鈥 as Papua New Guinea.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that refugees who arrived in Australia by boat could be sent for processing and then would 鈥渟ettle and reside鈥 on Nauru.
The so-called riot that burned down much of the Nauru detention camp began as a peaceful protest by refugees wanting their asylum processing to begin.
The July 19 protests by almost all of the 500 men held in the compound 鈥渨as not borne out of malice,鈥 the Salvation Army said in a statement on July 23.
鈥淚t was a build up of pressure and anxiety over 10 months of degrading treatment, and a planned peaceful protest that degenerated. It was a reaction to a refugee processing system that is devoid of logic and fairness.鈥
A Third World country suffering rising violence, rapes, political corruption and plagued by endemic diseases such as cholera and malaria will be the new dumping ground for Australia鈥檚 refugee arrivals.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd鈥檚 astounding announcement that all asylum seeker boat arrivals 鈥渇rom now on鈥 would never be resettled in Australia and subject to a rigged offshore dumping deal with the Papua New Guinea government has shocked many.
The refugee 鈥渄ebate鈥 in Australian media and politics is rarely concerned about facts or evidence. Tony Abbott can call refugees 鈥渋llegal鈥 and be quoted uncritically in the news.
After fleeing and risking everything to seek asylum under Australia's laws, Iranian refugees now face being singled out and persecuted once again. This time, by the Australian Labor government.
New Prime Minister Kevin Rudd labelled 鈥渁 whole bunch of people鈥 as 鈥渆conomic migrants鈥 who 鈥渃omport as refugees鈥. Foreign affairs minister Bob Carr said boat arrivals are 鈥渋ncreasingly not people fleeing persecution鈥 because they are from 鈥渕ajority religious and ethnic groups鈥.
Nauru camp detainees have made allegations of brutal beatings by security guards, as newly leaked documents from the Salvation Army detailed the early 鈥渃haos鈥 of the camp.
A new website has published the biggest set of immigration detention records in Australia to date. It will provide unprecedented verification of the endemic self-harm and psychiatric crises that refugee rights campaigners have independently reported for years.
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