Author: Jenny Haines

Catherine CrittendenSeptember 22, 2020Uncategorized

A great article by Labor for Refugees NSW Junior Vice President, Dr Sabrin Farooqui, published in the Challenge Magazine:

Continuing Labor’s Progressive Path to the Future

This urgency motion was carried unanimously. Congratulations Victorian Labor!

Urgency Motion for ALP State Conferenc e : 12 & 13 November  2016

Asylum & Refugees

Victorian Labor congratulates Premier Dan Andrews on the leadership he has shown through the following:

• Offering a home in Victoria for the 267 people seeking asylum who were brought to Australia from Nauru for medical reasons
• Providing $15 million for 3,000 training places in the Vocational Education & Training (VET) sector for people seeking asylum who hold Bridging Visa E and for refugees holding Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) and Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (SHEVs)
• Providing $11 million for health and mental health support services for refugees and people seeking asylum.

That this Victorian State ALP conference expresses its deep concern at the physical and mental suffering endured  by asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island. We therefore urge the Shadow Cabinet to adopt a position that would commit Australia to:

1. lifting its refugee intake to the per capita OECD average, being approximately 50,000 per annum and ensuring this intake of refugees takes place without lengthy delays.
2. closing the Manus and Nauru asylum seeker detention centres and arranging the transfer of refugees to either Australia or another genuinely welcoming country
3. establishing and financially supporting a cooperative UNHCR-administered regional asylum seeker processing arrangement with Southeast Asian neighbors to ensure the quick, efficient and humane processing of asylum seeker claims in accordance with the policy adopted at the 2015 ALP National Conference.

Moved:  Ilia Vurtel, Wills Delegate

Seconded: Pauline Brown, Bendigo Delegate

*Footnote: The figure of 50,000 was taken from the average of all OECD countries, weighted by population and adjusted for per capita GDP.

THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE RECENT ALLEGATIONS RELATING TO CONDITIONS AND CIRCUMSTANCES AT THE REGIONAL PROCESSING CENTRE IN NAURU Labor for Refugees made a submission to the Senate Select Committee on 11 April last, which is required to inquire into and report by 15 June 2015 on the responsibilities of the Commonwealth Government in connection with the management and operation of the Regional Processing Centre in Nauru.

You can access the Terms of Reference of this Inquiry and our submission on the following link L4RSubmissionAllegationsreNauru

The Senate launched an inquiry into abuse of women and children inside the Nauru detention centre after an independent report detailed allegations of rape, sexual assaults and intimidation. The inquiry is backed by the former chief justice and chief magistrate on Nauru, both Australians who were expelled by the Nauru government, and by former case workers who doubt the capacity of officials and contractors to implement the report’s recommendations. The former magistrate, Peter Law, told Fairfax Media he had no confidence that the Nauru police has the capacity or the independence to investigate the allegations. He also said there needs to be more accountability for the money paid to Nauru to provide the centre.

The inquiry will take evidence under parliamentary privilege from past and present staff, including some of those employed by Save The Children who were expelled from the island and whose conduct was not found wanting in the independent report.

Catherine CrittendenOctober 8, 2016Uncategorized

As the government prepares to meet with the UNHCR, urgent action is being demanded on mental decay.

Read the report by Martin McKenzie-Murray Oct 8, 2016

Catherine CrittendenNovember 2, 2017Uncategorized

The current 2015 ALP National Platform: A smart, modern, fair Australia.

Labor for Refugees submitted proposed amendments to the ALP National Policy Forum in October 2017.  These amendments are made to the section in Labor’s Platform on Migration and Refugees, which appears in Chapter 9, A Fair Go for All. The changes we urge the Labor Party to adopt are highlighted in purple here.

Please publicise our amended version of Chapter 9, and ask other members of the Party, through their Branches and Federal Electorate Councils, to endorse them. We need to let the Party know that ALP Branches and Federal Electorate Councils support these important changes to Labor’s refugee policy.

REFUGEE MOTION FOR NSW CONFERENCE 30 JULY 2017 – SPEECH

The Conference ran out of time for debate, but since both factions supported the Motion, it was passed without debate. This was the speech our National and State Secretary, Nizza Siano, would have given in support of the motion, and the motion itself.

LABOR FOR REFUGEES CALLS FOR A ROYAL COMMISSION INTO ASYLUM SEEKER DETENTION Labor for Refugees issued a Media Release on 11 April last, endorsing the call by former workers in offshore detention centres, for a Royal Commission into allegations of sexual abuse of detainees on Nauru, being covered up by the Federal Government for a period of 17 months.

Please go the following link to read our Release L4RMediaReleaseRoyalCommissionNauru

Catherine CrittendenNovember 7, 2017Uncategorized

The following is the Motion that was carried in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Thursday 24^th August 2017:

MOTION IN THE ACT LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY re MANUS ISLAND AND NAURU

For Thursday 24^th August 2017

Shane Rattenbury, MLA to move – That this Assembly:

• Acknowledges the ACT Government’s ongoing commitment to upholding the human rights of refugees and asylum seekers, by reaffirming that:
  1. The ACT is the only Australian state or territory to have declared itself a Refugee Welcome Zone, and is one of 148 Refugee Welcome Zones across Australia – including councils and shires from every state. As a Refugee Welcome Zone we welcome refugees in our community, act to uphold their human rights, demonstrate compassion for refugees, and work to enhance our cultural and religious diversity; and
  2. The ACT is proud to be part of the Safe Haven Enterprise Visa Scheme. This underlines the commitment of both the ACT Government and the broader community to welcoming and supporting refugees and asylum seekers.
• Notes that:
  1. The Manus Island detention facility and the Nauru Regional Processing Centre have been unequivocally shown, via multiple reports from reputable sources, including the United Nations, to be extremely unsafe and inappropriate places, yet over 2000 refugees – including 169 children – have been imprisoned for four years in these inhumane and degrading conditions;
  2. Refugees in these processing centres have been subjected to violent attacks, sexual violence, inadequate medical care, and harassment involving mothers, fathers and children as young as six;
  3. The United Nations has repeatedly criticised Australia’s treatment of refugees and asylum seekers including by saying: “The consensus among medical experts is that conditions of detention and offshore processing do immense damage to physical and mental health” and “[T]he Rapporteur concludes that there is substance in the allegations… that the Government of Australia, by failing to provide adequate detention conditions; end the practice of detention of children; and put a stop to the escalating violence and tension at the Regional Processing Centre, has violated the right of the asylum seekers, including children, to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment…”;
  4. On 8 August 2017, the UNHCR said it is “is gravely concerned by deteriorating conditions at the Manus Island ‘Regional Processing Centre’, as authorities seek to relocate people to Lorengau or elsewhere in Papua New Guinea. The announcement of the closure of the Centre, in the absence of appropriate alternatives, is causing acute distress among refugees and asylum-seekers”; and
  5. It is past time for this damaging, cruel and inhumane policy to end.
• Writes to the Federal Government, requesting that it:
  1. Immediately removes all refugees and asylum seekers from Manus Island and Nauru; and
  2. Brings all refugees and asylum seekers to Australia to be resettled in Australia’s 148 Refugee Welcome Zones where they can build new lives within this network of compassionate and caring communities committed to upholding their rights.
• Declares that: The ACT Government is willing and ready to settle refugees and asylum seekers from Manus and Nauru in Canberra as part of a national program of resettlement.

Background:

The Motion was tabled in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Thursday 24^th August – by Shane Rattenbury, Leader of The GREENS in the Legislative Assembly.

• The idea for the development of the Motion is a result of a combined efforts of a number of people including active members of the #ManusLivesMatter support group.
• Approximately forty people went along to sit in the Gallery and hear Shane Rattenbury speak to the Motion. After Shane spoke to it, all the people in the Gallery gave a long, standing ovation. Our Deputy Chief Minister, Yvette Berry (ALP) also spoke in support of the Motion. Alistair Coe (LIBs) rose to speak against it.
  
• The LIBs abstained from voting.
• Happily – the Motion was ‘carried’.

The Chief Minister, Andrew Barr wrote to Peter Dutton (on 6^th October). In his letter Andrew:

• let him know The Motion was passed in the Assembly on 24 August.
• restated the ACT’s long history as an inclusive community, is a ‘Refugee Welcome Zone’ and part of the SHEV program.
• restated how the ACT Govt is committed to resettling refugees and asylum seekers from Manus & Nauru.
• asked Dutton to immediately remove all refugees and asylum seekers from Manus and Nauru and resettle them in the Refugee Welcome Zones across Australia.
• stated how the ACT Govt welcomes all efforts of the Commonwealth Govt to resettle asylum seekers in Canberra.

Alternative to Nauru

I refer to Richard Marles’s piece on Nauru (“Activists’ rumour-mongering demonises and damages our friend Nauru”, 31/10). Marles argues that were the policy of offshore processing to end then asylum-seeker vessels would again set sail from Java and many asylum-seekers would die.
It has been pointed out to Marles that the answer to this argument is for Australia to increase its processing of asylum-seekers in Indonesia and admit those whose refugee claims are accepted. But Marles has continually ignored this response. To think that stopping the boats from departing Java solves the problem is to ignore the facts. Asylum-seekers in Indonesia can’t work and can’t send their children to Indonesian schools. If they choose to risk their lives by getting on a boat, it is because they do not consider that by remaining in Indonesia they are living.

Robin Rothfield, National Co-convenor, Labor for Refugees, Alphington, Vic

Published in The Australian 3 November 2015

Labor for Refugees made a submission to the National Policy Forum which is considering changes to Labor’s National Platform prior to the 2018 National Conference. Subsequently, a draft was issued by the NPF and members were invited to make comments and further submissions.

Labor for Refugees has now made the following further submissions to the National Policy Forum. Our November 2017 amendments appear in red font and the more recent ones are in blue font.

L4R Submission final with L4R amendments in red & blue as at 18 May 18

Explanatory note for Clause 287

Explanatory note for Clause 288