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Keywords: Complementary Protection

  • AUSTRALIA

    A bad Christmas for refugees

    • Kerry Murphy
    • 10 December 2013
    11 Comments

    Last week asylum seekers had a small win only to have it snatched away, and then were confronted by a more serious attack. Those working with asylum seekers have learned to expect abuse and derision from governments directed against asylum seekers and those helping them. Labor is only moderately better than the Coalition, but at least they occasionally made positive decisions. However these recent events have reached a new nadir.

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  • RELIGION

    Australia's 20 year search for the right asylum policy

    • Frank Brennan
    • 26 June 2012
    18 Comments

    Last week’s tragedy of another mass loss of life at sea between Indonesia and Christmas Island focuses our minds yet again on an intractable public policy problem for Australia – our search for a coherent, workable and moral asylum policy.

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  • RELIGION

    Oakeshott's Malaysia Solution loophole

    • Frank Brennan
    • 16 April 2012
    22 Comments

    His proposed amendment to the Migration Act is designed to remove the peg on which the High Court hung the Malaysia solution out to dry. It is a convoluted means for allowing the executive government to declare an offshore processing country without meaningful scrutiny by Parliament or the High Court.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Australia playing catch-up with latest refugee reforms

    • Kerry Murphy
    • 26 March 2012
    9 Comments

    Australia's refugee processing regime saw two major reforms take effect on Saturday. They bring Australia into line with the EU, Canada and New Zealand. The changes are welcome but do not go far enough. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Refugee lotto

    • Kerry Murphy
    • 27 July 2011
    3 Comments

    An old legal maxim is 'hard cases make bad law'. Maybe complex cases compromise policy. Refugee law and policy is complex and the Malaysian agreement signed this week is another example of a compromise on human rights principles for political expedience.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Back to basics on asylum seeker policy

    • Kerry Murphy
    • 23 June 2011
    2 Comments

    The Rudd Government promised positive reforms after a decade of 'boat people'-bashing from the previous government. Three years later, we are back where we were. To understand how this happened it is helpful to overview the changes under Labor and the gradual decline in 'key immigration values'.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Riots and refugees

    • Kerry Murphy
    • 22 March 2011
    6 Comments

    The reintroduction of the Complementary Protection Bill to Parliament this week ought be welcomed. Given the protests in Christmas Island, it is clear that the mandatory detention policy is also overdue for reform.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Abbott's immigration paranoia

    • Kerry Murphy
    • 17 May 2010
    25 Comments

    Abbott's 'red arrows' asulym seeker ad is reminiscent of the 'reds under the beds' hysteria of the '50s and '60s. With an election on the way, the immigration policy reform agenda has been put aside as both Government and Opposition harden their policies.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    'Indonesia solution' is immoral

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 02 November 2009
    10 Comments

    The reception of asylum seekers is to be judged by the human reality of those who seek asylum, not by convenience of those on whom they make a claim. It is morally unjustifiable for Australia to transfer its responsibilities to Indonesia.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Getting fair, not tough, on immigration

    • Kerry Murphy
    • 07 October 2009
    13 Comments

    Homosexuals in Iran and allegedly 'adulterous' women in some countries are at risk of execution. Such cases may not qualify for refugee status in Australia, but would benefit from a 'complementary protection' Bill currently before Parliament.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Migration reform good news at last

    • Kerry Murphy
    • 01 July 2009
    1 Comment

    'Migration reform' rarely has positive connotations when dealing with refugees and asylum seekers. As asylum seekers continue to reach Australia by boat, reforms to Labor's immigration policies point to a more just approach.

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  • RELIGION

    'Agnostic' priest's social inclusion scepticism

    • Frank Brennan
    • 27 August 2008
    9 Comments

    The Government's Social Inclusion Board has commenced work. Provided 'social inclusion' doesn't become a buzzword to cloud discussion about service delivery, it could be a useful means for enhancing human flourishing.

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