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Below: On September 10, 2012, AlJazeera telecast a report on the re-opening of offshore detention and processing centres for asylum seekers on Nauru.
Below: On August 24, 2012, ABC News telecast a news report detailing the reaction of Manus Island inhabitants to the proposed opening of detention centres for asylum seekers. Below: On September 15, 2012, the ABC News ran an interview with a former detainee from Nauru who was kept on the island under John Howard’s ‘Pacific solution’. The former detainee criticises the re-opening of Nauru as a detention centre.. Below: On October 4, 2012, ABC News conducted a detailed interview with Immigration Minister Chris Bowen on the government’s re-opening of asylum seeker detention centres at Nauru and Manus Island. |
 Web links, documents |
Internet information
On December 14, 2012, the ABC carried a news report detailing the decision by Professor Harry Minas, a long-serving member of the Government's advisory council on detention and asylum seekers to quit the job.
The full text of this article can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-14/gillard-government-adviser-on-asylum-seekers-quits/4427816
The Australian Human Rights Commission has a significant section of its site given over to considering the position of asylum seekers coming to Australia. The Commission has significant reservations about aspects of Australia's current policy.
The Commission's index for this section of its site can be accessed at http://humanrights.gov.au/human_rights/immigration/asylum_seekers.html#detention
A Just Australia is a lobby group which campaigns 'for just and compassionate treatment of refugees, consistent with the human rights standards that Australia has developed and endorsed.'
The group has a section of its site titled 'Myths and facts about refugees and asylum seekers'.
This information can be accessed at http://www.ajustaustralia.com/info/mythsfacts.php
The Asylum Seekers Resource Centre has a section of its site titled 'Myths, Facts and Solutions'. The site gives detailed information on the asylum seeker situation worldwide and in relation to Australia.
This site can be accessed at http://www.asrc.org.au/media/documents/myths-facts-solutions-summary-sheet.pdf
On November 19, 2012, The New Matilda published an opinion piece by Nick Riemer titled 'What "No Advantage" Really Means'. The piece is highly critical of conditions for asylum seekers in offshore detention facilities.
The full text of this article can be found at http://newmatilda.com/2012/11/19/no-advantage-really-means
On November 16, 2012, SBS published a background article giving a range of statistics (some in graph form) on asylum seekers coming to Australia.
This material can be found at http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1295782/Asylum-seekers-Where-Australia-stands
On October 31, 2012, SBS carried a report detailing Immigration Minister Chris Bowen's defence of his government's decision to excise all of mainland Australia from the country's migration zone. This action has been taken in order to reduce the claims that can be made by asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat. Mr Bowen argues that his government is trying to reduce the number of boat people and thus the number of deaths at sea.
The full text of this article can be found at http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1706635/Bowen-defends-Labors-excision-decision
On October 31, 2012, the Migration Minster, Chris Bowen, issued a media release explaining why the government had decided to excise the mainland from Australia's migration zone.
The full text of this media release can be found at http://www.chrisbowen.net/media-centre/media-releases.do?newsId=6466
On October 31, 2012, The Brisbane Times carried a report on the Australian government's decision to excise the mainland from the country's migration zone. The full text of this report can be found at http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/mainland-removed-from-zone-for-asylum-seekers-20121030-28hsa.html
On October 19, 2012, the ABC carried a news report detailing the manner in which the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, was defending her government's application of the 'no advantage' principle toward asylum seekers attempting to reach Australia by boat.
The full text of this report can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-19/gillard-defends-asylum-no-advantage-test/4323616
On October 15, 2012, The Conversation published an opinion piece by
Sharon Pickering, Professor of Criminology at Monash University, and Leanne Weber, Larkins Senior Research Fellow at Monash University.
The article is titled 'If we care about asylum seekers we must count deaths in detention'. The article is critical of conditions in detention camps and stresses the deaths that have occurred among those in Australian custody.
The full text of this article can be found at http://theconversation.edu.au/if-we-care-about-asylum-seekers-we-must-count-deaths-in-detention-9731
On August 27, 2012, the ABC published a comment by Catherine Deveny that criticises Australia's treatment of asylum seekers. The full text of this article can be accessed at http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4223856.html
On August 24, 2012, The Conversation published an opinion piece by Alison Gerard, Senior Lecturer in Justice Studies at Charles Sturt University and Francesco Vecchio, a PhD Candidate at Monash University. The piece is titled 'Australia among the world's worst in dealing with asylum seekers'. The authors present a detailed critique of Australia's history of dealing with asylum seekers.
The full text of this article can be found at http://theconversation.edu.au/australia-among-the-worlds-worst-in-dealing-with-asylum-seekers-8892
On August 23, 2012, The New York Times carried a detailed report on the Australian government's decision to increase the country's annual refugee quota. The article gives a large amount of background material on Australia's previous asylum seeker policies.
The full text of this article can be accessed at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/world/asia/australia-increases-refugee-quota-and-also-deterrents.html?_r=1&
On August 14, 2012, Monash University published an opinion piece by Professor Sharon Pickering, school of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University, and the Melissa Phillips, a doctoral candidate at the University of Melbourne.
The piece is critical of aspects of the Houston Review's recommendations. The opinion piece is titled 'Houston panel ignores the evidence on asylum seekers'.
The full text of this article can be found at http://www.monash.edu.au/news/show/houston-panel-ignores-the-evidence-on-asylum-seekers
On July 30, 2012, The Conversation gave a detailed overview of what recent opinion polls indicate are the popular views on asylum seekers trying to come to Australia.
The full text of this article can be found at http://theconversation.edu.au/what-does-the-australian-public-really-think-about-asylum-seekers-8522
On June 28, 2012, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship announced that the Government had invited retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, the former chief of Australia's defence force, to lead an expert panel to provide a report on how to prevent asylum seekers risking their lives on dangerous boat journeys to Australia.
The Report of the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers was released on August 13, 2012.
The full text of the Report can be accessed at http://expertpanelonasylumseekers.dpmc.gov.au/report
On September 17, 2011, The Sydney Morning Herald published an opinion piece by the Australian Migration Minister, Chris Bowen, titled, 'Humane reasons for processing asylum seekers offshore'
The full text of this article can be accessed at http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/humane-reasons-for-processing-asylum-seekers-offshore-20110916-1kduh.html
On June 17, 2011, SBS published a background report detailing where those asylum seekers who arrived in Australia in 2010 came from and comparing the number of applications Australia receives with those received by other nations.
This information can be accessed at http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1555731/Factbox-The-numbers-behind-the-asylum-debate
On January 5, 2011, the Australian federal Parliament's Social Policy Section published a detailed account of all asylum seeker arrivals by boat since 1976. The report gives a detailed account of changes of policy over the period.
The full text can be found at http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2011-2012/BoatArrivals
On January 5, 2011, SBS published a background looking specifically at the number of refugees currently in camps or other facilities largely in under-developed nations. The full text of this report can be found at http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1294102/At-a-glance-Who-takes-the-most-asylum-claims
On March 5, 2010, The Punch published an analysis and opinion piece by Graham Thom titled 'Australia really has a tiny number of asylum seekers'.
The full text of this article can be found at http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/australia-really-has-a-tiny-number-of-asylum-seekers/
