We must demand more of our politicians and policy makers. Most Australians would be shocked to learn that our government has spent billions of dollars holding innocent and vulnerable people in immigration detention centres — here in Australia and offshore — for no purpose except to discourage them, and others, from exercising their right to seek refuge and safety here.
It does not need to be this way — we can welcome refugees. Media contact: Sam Brennan or sam. Join the community to stay informed on breaking news, ways you can take action and stories of refugees and people seeking asylum. Need help from the ASRC? Call 03 Monday - Friday, 10am - 5pm to book an appointment.
Complete this form with your details and we will send you an email reminder before the event as well as alerts throughout the day when key activities happen. Laura Arroyo Media centre , News. Stand with us Join the community to stay informed on breaking news, ways you can take action and stories of refugees and people seeking asylum.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form. The Biden administration has diminished, but not formally ended the use of family detention, which often ran afoul of the Flores Settlement Agreement.
Instead, the administration has continued to detain families in hotels. NIJC advocates, instead , for the government to invest in nonprofit shelters where families would have ready access to services including representation. On the plus side, the Biden administration has taken constructive steps towards the reunification of hundreds of families separated under the Trump administration and rescinded an interagency agreement that weaponized family reunification and kept unaccompanied children detained indefinitely.
Permanency for separated families will require Congressional action, such as the passage of the Families Belong Together Act. The Biden administration entered into a secretive contract with a juvenile jail in Virginia to detain youth in ICE custody. ICE has a record of detaining youth indefinitely , across administrations. Promote transparency and oversight in detention centers where children are being held to ensure their health and safety is not being put at risk.
Transition away from the detention of families in any form and toward reception shelters , where families can safely access services and allow families full due process protection to pursue their asylum claims.
End the detention of children and young adults in ICE custody. Current Status: Fortunately, the Biden Administration announced that it is suspending cooperative agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Although the Biden administration began winding down MPP and processed over 13, asylum seekers with active MPP cases, litigation halted their efforts and mandated a reimplementation of the unlawful and deadly program.
Rather than terminate it again based on the extensive record of atrocities, the Biden administration has reportedly contemplated creating its own version of the Trump-era program. Tens of thousands were forced to wait months or years to exercise their right to seek asylum at U.
Mayorkas ] DHS Secretary Mayorkas recently issued a stark warning to Cuban and Haitian refugees seeking protection at sea: regardless of the dangers they face, none will be processed for asylum in the United States.
If not returned to the places they fled, asylum seekers will be sent to third countries. Suspend any agreement with Mexico or Central American nations to militarize borders or process or detain asylum seekers outside the United States.
Current Status: The Trump rule which expanded expedited removal nationwide is currently in effect. The Biden administration has not indicated that it plans to rescind this expansion.
However, President Biden recently proposed a regulation that would expand expedited removal and subject the vast majority of asylum seekers to rushed, unfair proceedings.
While this review process is taking place, asylum seekers can continue to be removed without judicial involvement. The Biden Administration has announced that it will subject families to expedited hearings in what has already become a chaotic, backlogged, and alarming process that lacks basic safeguards, such as the right to counsel. The Biden administration continues to defend various rules proposed and finalized under Trump, seeking appeals on injunctions won by asylum seekers and their advocates.
NIJC Recommendations: Provide asylum seekers and other vulnerable populations with guaranteed counsel and protect their right to fair hearings and appeals processes.
Rescind the Trump rule that expanded expedited removal nationwide. Exercise discretion NOT to place individuals apprehended at the border into expedited removal.
Rescind and forbear implementation of Trump regulations related to appeals, increased fees, and expediting asylum application filings. July U. The Biden administration has closed two ICE jails rife with abusive conditions including the forced sterilization of women. However, the administration has extended contracts with private prison companies and entered into new agreements, including an agreement to detain immigrant children in Virginia.
ICE detention continues to be the site of life-threatening conditions, medical abuse , and discrimination. Although President Biden has committed to end the use of private, for-profit federal prisons, he has not extended such commitment to for-profit ICE detention.
A Bill to amend the Migration Act to extend this liability to all asylum seekers who arrive by boat, even if they reach the mainland, was introduced into Parliament in November In September the Australian Government commenced transferring asylum seekers who have arrived in Australia by boat to Nauru.
A large number of people who arrived in Australia by boat since 13 August remain in immigration detention in Australia. That is, asylum seekers who come to Australia by boat will gain no benefit through doing so, as compared with if they waited elsewhere to have their claims assessed and a durable solution provided if they are found to be refugees. The Australian Government has said it expects this waiting period to be in the order of five years.
This will apply even after an asylum seeker is determined under Australian, Nauruan or PNG law to be a refugee. The Commission holds serious concerns that the regional processing regime creates a significant risk that Australia may breach its human rights obligations. In particular, theregime risks violation of core human rights principles, such as the prohibition on arbitrary detention, the right to claim asylum and the rights of children and the family.
The Commission made a detailed submission on the regional processing regime to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. It can be accessed here. For further information, see:. The Commission aims to provide clear,factual information to improve community awareness and understanding of the situation of asylum seekers and refugees in Australia.
In particular, the Commission aims to highlight the human rights issues involved in the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. The Commission has developed interactive web materials on a range of human rights issues, including those affecting asylum seekers and refugees. The Commission has undertaken a range of community projects aimed at increasing social inclusion and countering discrimination. The Commission has also developed human rights resources for new arrivals in Australia and for young people enrolled in community language schools.
Rights and Freedoms. Who are asylum seekers and refugees? Are asylum seekers and refugees subject to immigration detention in Australia?
What does the Commission do to monitor conditions and treatment of people held in immigration detention? What does the Commission do to help increase community awareness about the human rights and circumstances of refugees and asylum seekers?
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