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asylum seekers

Refugees And Asylum Seekers: Where Are We?

Over 1.2 million people are in need of resettlement.

The international community continues to fail refugees and asylum seekers by refusing to share responsibility for displaced people.

The UN Refugee Agency has reported that over 1.2 million people are in need of resettlement.

This is a global issue that requires a holistic approach, in which governments work together in order to help the most vulnerable.

Recently, the Australian government announced that a further 12,000 humanitarian places would become available in response to the conflict in Syria and Iraq. 22,406 visas have been granted to displaced persons arriving from these countries over the last two years.

However, more needs to be done. First, Australia must find a humane alternative to detention centres. Second, more funding should be allocated to local services, such as job creation, housing, and healthcare.

We must band together and help the world’s most vulnerable with a humane, international response.

Ariza Arif
BA (UNSW), LLB (Macquarie University) – Student at law.

Syria and the recent Brussels attack

war-terrorismSyria, the recent Brussels attacks and PM Turnbull’s criticism of EU security

The conflict in Syria is complex, complicated and multi-faceted. The ideal solution is an end to the Civil War, a stable Government for Syria and a return of displaced persons to what’s left of their homes.

This ideal solution, however, seems a long way off.

The complexity of the situation in Syria has been further complicated by the rise of Islamic State extremism and the increase in terror attacks across the globe, including on European soil.

While the majority of the perpetrators of attacks in Europe have been reportedly committed by European nationals, some attackers have been documented as passing through European borders, presenting as Syrian refugees, and therefore using the Syrian conflict as a means of inflicting the motives of extremists.

Comments by Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull criticising the European Union response to the millions of refugees seeking asylum within its borders and linking the recent Brussels attack with the Syrian refugee problem are unhelpful.

These comments further reiterate the delicate nature of the situation and the lack of an international consensus to adequately deal with the plethora of problems emanating from the war torn region.

It has been reported that some of the attackers in the Paris and Brussels attacks passed through the Greek island of Leros, posing as refugees seeking asylum.

Greece, enduring its own economic and social crisis, has been on the front line of the Syrian refugee crisis, with 1 million refugees arriving on its islands in 2015.

Had Greek authorities been adequately resourced by the EU to screen all refugees, the attackers may have been prevented from continuing their journey towards France and Belgium.

The issues facing the Greek authorities are a small example of the plethora of issues that have arisen from the Syrian Civil War.

Greece and Turkey have since revisited an agreement to return refugees arriving in Greece in exchange for funding and concessions from the EU to Turkey.

Mr Turnbull may arguably resemble use of the refugee crisis as political pointscoring by comparing the EU’s porous borders with that of internationally condemned local policies here in Australia.

This rhetoric does not assist the millions of people on the ground in Syria and Europe affected by this crisis, but merely increases anti-refugee sentiment within our own borders and across a European continent already struggling to grapple with the humanitarian cost of the Syrian conflict.

How could the Australian Prime Minister act differently?

In light of the humanitarian crisis in Syria and Europe, Mr Turnbull would have been better advised to speak compassionately about the need for a regional and global solution to the refugee crisis, in particular, and Syrian Civil War in general.

It is interesting to note that both the Belgian ambassador to Australia, Jean-Luc Bodson, and the German ambassador to Australia cautioned against drawing the conclusions Mr Turnbull did between the recent Brussels attacks and the Syrian refugee crisis

Furthermore, the leader of a wealthy country built on immigration should be taking a stance on a global level to do more to assist the millions of displaced Syrian citizens and to help resolve the crisis.

Mr Turnbull should increase Australia’s intake of Syrian refugees from a paltry 12,000 to a number more reflective of a nation with our capacity to welcome new citizens (noting the large numbers of permanent migrants taken each year is often in excess of 180,000).

Mr Turnbull should actively use our position as a leader in the Asia Pacific and take advantage of our historically strong ties with both Europe and the US, to advocate for a multi party solution to the conflict.

Mr Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop could also advocate for a variety of outcomes, including but not limited to:

  • Calling on greater UN involvement in both peacekeeping operations, ceasefire negotiations and humanitarian aid;
  • Pursuing multi-party avenues such as advocating for the establishment of talks between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party to overcome certain differences to allow Kurdish Pashmerga forces uninhibited opportunity to defeat ISIS;
  • Increasing foreign aid to Syria’s neighbours (such as Lebanon and Jordan), as refugee camps in these countries are under-resourced and are leading to Syrians taking the drastic and dangerous journey towards Europe
  • Encouraging those on the UN Security Council, including primarily Russia and the United States, to negotiate a solution without a strong focus on their respective interests in the region
  • Advocating for a binding ceasefire and resolution to the Civil War

A more compassionate approach to the treatment of refugees, both in Australia and overseas, should be the goal of local, regional, national and international policies.

Locally, your continued support for AFFMA, greatly assists us to provide a professional volunteer service for refugees and asylum seekers navigating the complex Australian legal system.

James Gounis
B.Com, B. Laws (Hons), Dipl. Legal Practice

Refugee and asylum seekers: feeling like outsiders

free-migration-agents-we-need-youThe call for equality

Refugee and Asylum seeker identities and personalities are, like all humans, complex and formed by internal and external feelings and environments.

The internal feelings stem from beliefs, cultural traditions and religious affiliations. However, external factors result from resettlement practices, mandatory policies, social, political and economic conditions.

Often when refugees and asylum seekers reach a country they are housed in camps or detained, awaiting processing.

In this time, they are subjected to feelings of being outsiders and in a sense they are in limbo. Their lives are on hold. They often cannot work in their new country, and the schooling of their children becomes more difficult.

The impact of further labelling these individuals inflicts greater instability regarding a person’s identity and affiliations as to “who are they” and “do they even matter.”  Feelings of being an outsider and not knowing one’s fate would no doubt be extremely daunting, particularly when required to flee a country  as a last option in order to achieve safety and freedom.

Reaching the shoreline, arriving at the airport or crossing a border is one thing BUT being detained for long periods of time awaiting the outcome of asylum applications would be extremely unforgiving on a person’s autonomy and would contribute to feelings of self worth.

To read further on these issues please click on this link. http://www.unhcr.org/510947989.html

Upside when we open our arms in the face of humanity

This link provides an overview of people that have come to Australia as a refugee or asylum seeker and have secured a better future: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-22/refugee-week-profiles/4036618

Najeeba Wazefadost

This woman was 12 years old when her family smuggled out of Afghanistan and flown into Indonesia on fake passports. Further, Najeeba and her brother set sail to Australia and were intercepted by the Australian Navy in 2000.

She now lives in Western Sydney, is a part of a Women’s Association and is an ambassador for Amnesty International. Additionally, she was a finalist of the Young Human Rights Medial Award.

She has also completed a Bachelor of Medical Science and is now furthering her education via a second degree.

By opening our borders (and our arms and minds) in the face of diversity more positive stories can influence our actions to understand why people flee and demonstrate what a little faith in humanity can achieve.

Please, read the above links for further information and especially the ABC link as it shows why people flee and what they can achieve when they are welcomed into their new country of residence.

Statelessness!

AHRC

Statelessness, the Human Rights Commission & The Dept Of immigration And Citizenship

In 2012 the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) published the report ‘Community arrangements for asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons’. The report discusses the issue of stateless persons being kept in detention for long periods of time because they have not been granted refugee status or had substantive visa pathways made available to them.

The AHRC recommended that the Australian Government should develop a formal statelessness determination mechanism

The AHRC recommended that the Australian Government should develop a formal statelessness determination mechanism which recognises both de jure, and de facto statelessness.

The meaning of de jure statelessness can be found in Article 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, “a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law”.

While there is no international agreed definition of de facto statelessness, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stated in 2010 “de facto stateless persons are persons outside the country of their nationality who are unable or, for valid reasons, are unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country.”

Additionally the report recommends the establishment of administrative pathways for the grant of substantive visas to stateless persons who have been found not to be refugees or otherwise owed protection.

The Department of Home Affairs response

The DIBD response to the AHRC’s report stated that neither the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons or the the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness “prevents removal of stateless persons who are unlawfully in Australia…or requires the grant of a visa, and statelessness alone is not a ground for engaging Australia’s international protection obligations under other international human rights instruments”. However they did say they were “committed to identify situations of statelessness more rapidly and to provide for decision makers better tools for assessing the claims of stateless people.”

Nonetheless three years after the publication of the AHRC’s recommendations, the chief executive officer of the Refugee Council of Australia Paul Power said:

The lack of a statutory statelessness determination procedure coupled with no viable resolution for stateless people has meant that hundreds of stateless people in detention and in the community face an uncertain future.”

What is a stateless person?

stateless

Statelessness

The Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons terms “Stateless Person” as a ‘person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.’

This situation can often take effect relating to many asylum seekers and refugees fleeing their country for fear of persecution or ongoing violence and breach of basic human rights.

555 people in closed detention in Australia identified as being stateless

The Australian Human Rights Commission(AHRC) found that as of “15 May 2012, there were 555 people in closed detention in Australia who identified as being stateless, 114 of whom had been detained for over 540 days”.

Australia does have obligations regarding stateless individual(s) pursuant to the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. There are guidelines for assessing claims of statelessness, however this is unfortunately not enough to produce an efficient remedy.

The reason is statelessness does not ‘provide for the grant of a visa in response to an assessment that a person is stateless’

Therefore, the global distribution of asylum seekers and refugees exemplifies what the authors of An Introduction to International Relations call the “dilemma that the world is currently facing” and in turn a third category of people has been created: stateless persons.  This fact produces several questions surrounding statelessness and stateless persons.

Effect of statelessness

In its Community Arrangements For Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Stateless Persons, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) highlights the benefits of community placement. The effect of statelessness stresses the position of these people in legal limbo. The AHRC has recommended that there should be a development of formal recognition of statelessness. The rights of stateless persons should also include ways to grant them substantive visas. Thus, the AHRC provides numerous recommendations to rectify issues surrounding asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons.

Case study

Miran Hosny’s article in the New Matilda, ‘Stateless Refugee Caught in Legal Limbo’, tells the story of Ahmad Alhaj, born in Saudi Arabia but ethnically Chadian, who came to Australia seeking asylum.

This case highlights a situation in which a person can be caught in legal limbo. Ahmad came to Australia via plane from Saudi Arabia, where he left due to a life of constant discrimination.

A legal technicality meant the Australian government refused to grant him a protection visa.  As a result, he was immediately detained in Villawood Detention Centre and now faces deportation to Chad (despite the fact he has never been there) merely as a result of his Chadian parentage. This deportation will render Ahmad virtually stateless.

If deported to Chad (and this is very likely), Ahmad will have no support network or means of establishing one especially that he can hardly speak Ratana, the language of  the extremely marginal desert tribe, one of 200 languages spoken in Chad.

Additionally, the human rights record of the Chadian military is negligible, with Amnesty International reporting that most violations go unchallenged, and around 90,000 people are currently internally displaced.

“I am exactly like the Bidouns of Kuwait,” Ahmad stated. “They tell me I’ll get used to it [Chad]. I tell them it’s impossible. I’d rather stay here, die here or get sent to any island than go to Chad.”

Click on the links below for further stories on Australians who are now stateless:

‘Deported Drug Offender Stateless in Serbia’ – Sascha Stevanovic, who came to Australia as a two year old, is living in Serbia with no way of supporting himself, after he was deported from Australia following a lengthy period in prison on drug offences.

‘Australia to deport German-born criminal’ – The federal government defended its decision to deport a German-born Australian resident because of his lengthy and serious criminal record.

‘Stateless Man Fails to Plead his Case’ –  Despite living in Australia most of his life, Mr Robert Jovicic, 42, was deported to Serbia in June 2004 after committing a string of crimes linked to his heroin addiction.

Famous Aussies sing to save child asylum seekers!

free-migration-agents-famous-aussies-sing-to-save-child-asylum-seekers
Bryan Brown

Raising awareness of child asylum seekers in detention centres

In late November 2014, over 30 famous Australians got together to record a song that raises awareness of child asylum seekers in detention centres.

The Guardian reported that actors, including Bryan Brown and Deborah Mailman, and former Wallabies captain George Gregan, were just some of the well- known Australians who sang: ‘We’re better than this’, directed by Darren Percival from The Voice.

Unsafe environment and lack of schooling for asylum seeker children

The song focuses on the unsafe environment and lack of schooling for asylum seeker children on Christmas Island and Nauru Island and also urges the public to join the movement to free the children. The song had over 38,000 views.

Awareness is crucial to ensure a fair and just system

Campaigns such as these create greater public awareness and understanding of what asylum seekers have to face. Awareness is crucial to ensure a fair and just system that offers everyone a chance to live their life free from torture, abuse and persecution; a chance to live the life they deserve.

Photo courtesy of capitalbay.com

Children seeking refuge in Australia

We’re better than this …

“A movement for ordinary Australians who want both sides of politics to hear us when we say we believe we can do better than we are currently doing when it comes to managing kids seeking refuge.” Bryan Brown.

Please share this video

AFFMA doing the hard yards for refugees

Some refugees have gone through unthinkable atrocities and being at home is not an option anymore.
Some refugees have gone through unthinkable atrocities and being at home is not an option anymore.

 The stories of refugees have a common trait: sorrow

Every year thousands of people around the world migrate to other countries searching for a better future. Some of them have gone  through unthinkable atrocities and being at home is not an option anymore. Their stories have a common trait: sorrow.

Migration Officer and Acting President for the Association of Fee Free Migration Agents Sydney (AFFMA) Joël Gédéon finds it hard  to avoid getting emotional when talking about the many cases that regularly come to his desk.

A former teacher, Gédéon, originally from Paris, started his journey 11 years ago when he came to Australia for a holiday. Influenced by his partner, Gédéon applied for permanent residency that was granted three weeks later due to the shortage of teachers in Australia  at the time.

But this traveller was not prepared to settle in Australia yet. For a couple of years, he lived in Thailand and Malaysia where he had the chance to get involved, and work with, refugee charity organisations.

In 2009, Gédéon returned to Australia where he became a migration agent. He never imagined what destiny held for him and the impact he would have on other people’s lives.

Read more at http://megaphoneoz.com/?p=9274

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