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Amnesty International Australia

Refugees' Human Rights Campaign January 2007

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Dear friend,

Welcome to our new look Refugees' Human Rights Campaign newsletter - if you're having trouble viewing it please click on the link above to see the newsletter as a web page. Please read on to find out what's happening in the area of refugees' human rights and take action today to help a Syrian asylum seeker.

 

In this newsletter

Andrews replaces Vanstone, 'citizenship' replaces 'multicultural'

Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced on 23 January that Hon Kevin Andrews MP (formerly the Workplace Relations Minister) will take over the immigration portfolio from Senator Amanda Vanstone, who no longer has front bench duties.

The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs will also be renamed the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Detention is still detention

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) has just released a report following the inspection of detention centres in Australia.

HREOC has noted significant improvements in the detention facilities, however it agrees with Amnesty International Australia that alternatives to detention must be found and that people are being detained for too long. Read the report.

UNHCR warns that failed asylum seekers should not be returned

Earlier this month the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) urged countries not to deport rejected Iraqi asylum seekers, stating that they faced targeted killings and worsening bloodshed in their homeland.

The security situation in Iraq, where more than 20,000 people were reportedly killed in 2006, has deteriorated in the past 16 months. Aid workers in the area warn of a refugee crisis as more and more countries close their doors on fleeing Iraqis.

  

Act now: Stop the torture of a Syrian asylum seeker

Take action to help Yassin Suleiman and his father who are being held incommunicado, reportedly by State Security (Amn al-Dawla) in Syria. Amnesty International fears they are at grave risk of torture and ill-treatment.

Yassin and his wife and daughter had travelled to Norway and sought asylum at the end of 2004. The Norwegian authorities rejected their application and in November 2006 they were forcibly returned to Syria. Soon after, Yassin was summoned to a police station where he was arrested. His family are not able to contact Yassin or his father, who had accompanied him.

Please take action today and call for the two men to be fairly charged or released.

Submissions due for humanitarian intake

Each year the Department of Immigration calls for submissions relating to the make-up of its humanitarian intake for the coming year. Amnesty International Australia will again submit a list of concerns.

Members of the general public are invited to make submissions which are due by 7 February.

Tamworth turnaround

In our last newsletter we told you about Tamworth Council's decision to refuse settlement to Sudanese refugees.

Public pressure, open debate, media attention and representations by refugees has resulted in the council voting to overturn its original ban on resettling refugees.

A fair go for refugees?

From 31 March to 1 April this year Manning Clark House in Canberra will be hosting a fantastic array of speakers at their 2007 Weekend of Ideas, on the theme A fair go for refugees?

Amnesty International Australia's National Director, Mara Moustafine will be one of the speakers exploring the principles, policies and practices underlying government approaches to asylum seekers, refugees, detention and immigration.

Contact Manning Clark House for more information.

More about Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international movement promoting and defending human rights.

Your donations are vital. We do not accept funding from governments or political organisations for our campaigning work against human rights abuses, only from individuals like you. Please donate today.

Thank you for your support. Your actions really do make a difference to refugees and their families.

Sophie Peer
Refugees' Human Rights Campaign Coordinator
Amnesty International Australia

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