Insights News
March 2 , 2010
The President of the Uniting Church in Australia, the Rev. Alistair Macrae, and Anglican Archbishop of Perth, the Most Rev. Roger Herft, have voiced concerns for the wellbeing of asylum seekers on Christmas Island following a recent visit. A delegation of church leaders visited Christmas Island at the end of February [...]
Our asylum seeker numbers are also in line with global trends. UNHCR has reported a 12% increase in global asylum seeker numbers worldwide from 2007 to 2008, partly due to ongoing conflicts in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Sri Lanka.
And other developed countries have received far greater numbers of asylum seekers than Australia. For example, in 2008 the US received [...]
Christmas Island is no place to detain children From Amnesty International, 19 June 2009
This morning, dozens of children - under the watchful eye of the Australian Government - were escorted to school by guards. This evening the children will return to a fenced facility on a remote island and do their homework in demountable buildings, [...]
Reform of detention debt regime under threat - please write letters From AJA (A Just Australia) June Newsletter, 2009
Many of you will know that Australia is the only country in the world that charges asylum seekers for the cost of their detention (even if they are proven to be refugees) which is a contravention of [...]
An important and happy part of Buddies activities are the Picnics at the Beach
“For the price of a game of golf….”
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As a reminder of what the Golf Day was about, read the following: Is it just me or does everyone think Afghanistan is no place for a child? Stick with me. I know that sentence might not seem that relevant to you, but don’t go yet….. [...]
The Golf Day Fundraising Event was a wonderful success from a number of different angles. Probably one of the most positive was the ‘exposure’ to the refugee situation of people who would otherwise not have had anything to do with the plight of refugees, let alone with refugees themselves. This happened through the generous media [...]
Meeting with Hon Robert McClelland MP Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, 3rd October 2007.
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A ‘Buddies’ member spoke to the submission and then a number of Buddies asked questions about what the Labor party would do about refugees and asylum speakers if elected to office. Although Robert was sympathetic to our concerns, he did [...]
Dear all, Our apologies for the long delay in writing. So far, we have been officially announced that 72 of us have been granted refugee status. However, we are waiting to find out which country has accepted us. Hopefully this will be decided soon. At least, we are very much relieved that we know the [...]
Dear Supporters of A Just Australia, While the Government is gearing up for an election, it appears that they are using the same old “We will decide who comes here” strategy to punish refugees as a way of proving the Government can protect our borders from vulnerable people who seek asylum in Australia. As [...]