Saturday, October 18, 2014 12:05:25 AM
Australian-born baby denied refugee protection visa
Date 15.10.2014
An 11-month-old baby born in Australia to asylum-seeker parents has been denied a refugee visa by the country's
Federal Court. The ruling throws further light on Canberra's hardline and controversial immigration policy.
Baby Ferouz Myuddin was born prematurely in hospital in the eastern Australian city of Brisbane last year. His mother, from Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya minority, was transfered there from a detention center on the Pacific state of Nauru because of health concerns.
The Australian government initially rejected the baby's refugee application, on the grounds he was an unauthorized maritime arrival, like his parents. Lawyers challenged that ruling, disputing that anyone born in an Australian hospital could have arrived by sea.
But their challenge was unsuccessful. On Wednesday, Federal Court judge Michael Jarrett agreed with the government's course of action, ruling that Ferouz had entered Australia by sea - despite the circumstances of his birth.
"On the applicant's birth he entered Australia and became an 'unlawful non-citizen', given that neither of his parents held a valid visa," Jarrett said in his judgment in Brisbane. "The application is therefore, in my view, an 'unauthorized maritime arrival'...and his application for a protection visa was invalid."
Ferouz was one of around 100 babies born in similar circumstances represented by the Maurice Blackburn Lawyers firm in Australia, meaning his case was keenly observed as a possible precedent.
Lawyers for Ferouz's parents said the family was "distressed" but respected the decision of the court.
"All they have continued to seek for Ferouz is a fair go: Ferouz was born in Brisbane and has a Queensland birth certificate, and we remain firmly of the view that on that basis, he should have the right to seek protection in Australia," said Murray Watt from the law firm Maurice Blackburn.
"Unfortunately, the court's decision means that Ferouz is not eligible to apply for a Protection Visa and he and his family are now able to be transfered to detention on Nauru," Watt said. "Amendments to the Migration Act, which are currently before Federal Parliament, would result in the transfer of all babies to Nauru, despite being born on Australian soil."
Another challenge
The High Court in Canberra began hearing another case on Tuesday, on the validity of a law used to detain 157 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum-seekers .. http://www.dw.de/australia-high-court-gives-sri-lanka-migrants-24-hour-reprieve/a-17766095 .. [http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=107202647] for weeks at sea in June. They had sailed from India, but are now in a detention camp on Nauru.
The group's lawyers say their clients were falsely imprisoned on the ship. The government says the detention was legal, as was a plan to send them back to India.
At the heart of the case is whether Australia has the power to remove asylum seekers from its contiguous zone, just outside territorial waters, and send them to other countries.
Hardline policy
Under Australia's immigration policy, refugees arriving by boat since July 2013 have been sent to camps on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and to Nauru - another camp is soon to open on Cambodia .. http://www.dw.de/australia-cambodia-refugee-resettlement-deal-slammed-by-rights-groups/a-17957640.
Refugees in these camps do not qualify for temporary Australian visas and instead are offered resettlement in these countries. Since December, only one boat of asylum seekers is known to have reached the Australian mainland - compared to almost daily arrivals under the previous Labor administration.
The current government, led by conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott of the Liberal Party, was elected in part on the promise that it would not allow more boats carrying asylum seekers to land in Australia. The government says it wants a regional solution to the issue of asylum seekers, and asserts that many of those trying to reach its shores are economic migrants.
jr/msh (dpa, AFP)
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http://www.dw.de/australian-born-baby-denied-refugee-protection-visa/a-17998315
===
More asylum-seekers died trying to reach Yemen in 2014, than 3 past years combined – UN
Those who arrive in Yemen by sea are taken to reception centres, like this one at Bab-el-Mandeb, where they are registered. UNHCR photo
17 October 2014 – More migrants and asylum-seekers are dying in attempts to get to Yemen, mainly from the Horn of Africa, this year than in the last three years combined, the UN refugee agency reported today.
In the latest tragic incident on 2 October, 64 migrants and three crew members died when their vessel, sailing from Somalia, sunk in the Gulf of Aden, according to a press release .. http://www.unhcr.org/544103b06.html .. from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR .. http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home).
October’s shipwreck was the largest single loss of life this year, and follows accidents in June, when 62 people died; March, when 44 people lost their lives; and in April, with 12 people dead. The total number of dead in 2014 is currently 215, exceeding the combined total for 2011, 2012 and 2013 of 179.
These deaths come amidst a dramatic increase in the number of new arrivals to Yemen by boat in September. At 12,768, it marks the single biggest month for arrivals since current records began to be kept in 2002. Most of the migrants are Somalis, Ethiopians and Eritreans who face ghoulish conditions on their journey.
“There have been frequent reports of mistreatment, abuse, rape and torture and the increasingly cruel measures being adopted by smuggling rings seem to account for the increase in deaths at sea,” UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler told journalists at a Geneva briefing today.
Boats crossing to Yemen are often perilously overcrowded, and smugglers have reportedly thrown passengers overboard to prevent capsizing or avoid detection. Search-and-rescue officials say the practice has resulted in hundreds of undocumented casualties in recent years.
Asylum-seekers arriving across the Yemeni coast at the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden are often dehydrated and exhausted. Stationed at three coastal transit centres, UNHCR and its partners provide first aid and food to those identified in a dire situation, before transporting them to the nearest reception centre, where they go through the initial registration process conducted by the Danish Refugee Council on behalf of UNHCR.
Somali arrivals receive ‘prima facie’ – accepted until proven otherwise – refugee status from the Government of Yemen, while non-Somalis who express an interest in seeking asylum are given attestation letters to present at the UNHCR offices in Sana’a or Aden and begin the refugee status determination process.
Despite the commitment and the continuing work of the Yemeni Government and others, it is clear that those ongoing efforts alone could not hope to avoid such loss of life.
“The surge can also be attributed to a decreasing level of cooperation between the countries in the region to better manage migratory movements,” Spindler said.
Factors behind this migrant surge are believed to include ongoing drought in South-Central Somalia, as well as the combined effects of conflict, insecurity, and lack of livelihood opportunities in countries of origin.
Therefore, “We also call on countries of origin, transit and destination in the region to step up their cooperation in managing the flows of migration. At the same time they must pay due attention to the protection needs of refugees, asylum-seekers and other vulnerable groups such as women and minors,” said Spindler.
This kind of regional cooperation was a central idea behind a Regional Conference on Asylum and Migration organized by the Government of Yemen with support from UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration in November 2013 and it lay at the heart of the Sana’a Declaration adopted at the Conference.
Yemen is the only country in the Arabian Peninsula that is signatory to the 1951 refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. It currently hosts 246,000 refugees, including over 230,000 Somalis and smaller numbers of Ethiopians, Eritreans, Iraqis and Syrians.
Yemen also hosted more than 334,000 internally displaced persons, either forced from their homes as a result of recent conflicts or living in longer-term displacement.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=49102#.VEHmzclwqM8
So, on the face of it, it seems Yemen treats all boat refugees more in accordance to international commitments than Australia does.
Date 15.10.2014
An 11-month-old baby born in Australia to asylum-seeker parents has been denied a refugee visa by the country's
Federal Court. The ruling throws further light on Canberra's hardline and controversial immigration policy.
Baby Ferouz Myuddin was born prematurely in hospital in the eastern Australian city of Brisbane last year. His mother, from Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya minority, was transfered there from a detention center on the Pacific state of Nauru because of health concerns.
The Australian government initially rejected the baby's refugee application, on the grounds he was an unauthorized maritime arrival, like his parents. Lawyers challenged that ruling, disputing that anyone born in an Australian hospital could have arrived by sea.
But their challenge was unsuccessful. On Wednesday, Federal Court judge Michael Jarrett agreed with the government's course of action, ruling that Ferouz had entered Australia by sea - despite the circumstances of his birth.
"On the applicant's birth he entered Australia and became an 'unlawful non-citizen', given that neither of his parents held a valid visa," Jarrett said in his judgment in Brisbane. "The application is therefore, in my view, an 'unauthorized maritime arrival'...and his application for a protection visa was invalid."
Ferouz was one of around 100 babies born in similar circumstances represented by the Maurice Blackburn Lawyers firm in Australia, meaning his case was keenly observed as a possible precedent.
Lawyers for Ferouz's parents said the family was "distressed" but respected the decision of the court.
"All they have continued to seek for Ferouz is a fair go: Ferouz was born in Brisbane and has a Queensland birth certificate, and we remain firmly of the view that on that basis, he should have the right to seek protection in Australia," said Murray Watt from the law firm Maurice Blackburn.
"Unfortunately, the court's decision means that Ferouz is not eligible to apply for a Protection Visa and he and his family are now able to be transfered to detention on Nauru," Watt said. "Amendments to the Migration Act, which are currently before Federal Parliament, would result in the transfer of all babies to Nauru, despite being born on Australian soil."
Another challenge
The High Court in Canberra began hearing another case on Tuesday, on the validity of a law used to detain 157 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum-seekers .. http://www.dw.de/australia-high-court-gives-sri-lanka-migrants-24-hour-reprieve/a-17766095 .. [http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=107202647] for weeks at sea in June. They had sailed from India, but are now in a detention camp on Nauru.
The group's lawyers say their clients were falsely imprisoned on the ship. The government says the detention was legal, as was a plan to send them back to India.
At the heart of the case is whether Australia has the power to remove asylum seekers from its contiguous zone, just outside territorial waters, and send them to other countries.
Hardline policy
Under Australia's immigration policy, refugees arriving by boat since July 2013 have been sent to camps on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and to Nauru - another camp is soon to open on Cambodia .. http://www.dw.de/australia-cambodia-refugee-resettlement-deal-slammed-by-rights-groups/a-17957640.
Refugees in these camps do not qualify for temporary Australian visas and instead are offered resettlement in these countries. Since December, only one boat of asylum seekers is known to have reached the Australian mainland - compared to almost daily arrivals under the previous Labor administration.
The current government, led by conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott of the Liberal Party, was elected in part on the promise that it would not allow more boats carrying asylum seekers to land in Australia. The government says it wants a regional solution to the issue of asylum seekers, and asserts that many of those trying to reach its shores are economic migrants.
jr/msh (dpa, AFP)
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Australia-Cambodia refugee resettlement deal slammed by rights groups
Australia and Cambodia signed a $35 million deal that will see an unknown number of refugees currently housed in
Australia's offshore detention centers resettled in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation. (26.09.2014)
http://www.dw.de/australia-cambodia-refugee-resettlement-deal-slammed-by-rights-groups/a-17957640
Australia High Court gives Sri Lanka migrants 24-hour reprieve
Australia's High Court has temporarily blocked the forced repatriation of a second set of asylum seekers to Sri Lanka. On Sunday, 41 migrants were returned to the country after Australia rejected their asylum claims. (07.07.2014)
http://www.dw.de/australia-high-court-gives-sri-lanka-migrants-24-hour-reprieve/a-17766095
http://www.dw.de/australian-born-baby-denied-refugee-protection-visa/a-17998315
===
More asylum-seekers died trying to reach Yemen in 2014, than 3 past years combined – UN
Those who arrive in Yemen by sea are taken to reception centres, like this one at Bab-el-Mandeb, where they are registered. UNHCR photo
17 October 2014 – More migrants and asylum-seekers are dying in attempts to get to Yemen, mainly from the Horn of Africa, this year than in the last three years combined, the UN refugee agency reported today.
In the latest tragic incident on 2 October, 64 migrants and three crew members died when their vessel, sailing from Somalia, sunk in the Gulf of Aden, according to a press release .. http://www.unhcr.org/544103b06.html .. from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR .. http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home).
October’s shipwreck was the largest single loss of life this year, and follows accidents in June, when 62 people died; March, when 44 people lost their lives; and in April, with 12 people dead. The total number of dead in 2014 is currently 215, exceeding the combined total for 2011, 2012 and 2013 of 179.
These deaths come amidst a dramatic increase in the number of new arrivals to Yemen by boat in September. At 12,768, it marks the single biggest month for arrivals since current records began to be kept in 2002. Most of the migrants are Somalis, Ethiopians and Eritreans who face ghoulish conditions on their journey.
“There have been frequent reports of mistreatment, abuse, rape and torture and the increasingly cruel measures being adopted by smuggling rings seem to account for the increase in deaths at sea,” UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler told journalists at a Geneva briefing today.
Boats crossing to Yemen are often perilously overcrowded, and smugglers have reportedly thrown passengers overboard to prevent capsizing or avoid detection. Search-and-rescue officials say the practice has resulted in hundreds of undocumented casualties in recent years.
Asylum-seekers arriving across the Yemeni coast at the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden are often dehydrated and exhausted. Stationed at three coastal transit centres, UNHCR and its partners provide first aid and food to those identified in a dire situation, before transporting them to the nearest reception centre, where they go through the initial registration process conducted by the Danish Refugee Council on behalf of UNHCR.
Somali arrivals receive ‘prima facie’ – accepted until proven otherwise – refugee status from the Government of Yemen, while non-Somalis who express an interest in seeking asylum are given attestation letters to present at the UNHCR offices in Sana’a or Aden and begin the refugee status determination process.
Despite the commitment and the continuing work of the Yemeni Government and others, it is clear that those ongoing efforts alone could not hope to avoid such loss of life.
“The surge can also be attributed to a decreasing level of cooperation between the countries in the region to better manage migratory movements,” Spindler said.
Factors behind this migrant surge are believed to include ongoing drought in South-Central Somalia, as well as the combined effects of conflict, insecurity, and lack of livelihood opportunities in countries of origin.
Therefore, “We also call on countries of origin, transit and destination in the region to step up their cooperation in managing the flows of migration. At the same time they must pay due attention to the protection needs of refugees, asylum-seekers and other vulnerable groups such as women and minors,” said Spindler.
This kind of regional cooperation was a central idea behind a Regional Conference on Asylum and Migration organized by the Government of Yemen with support from UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration in November 2013 and it lay at the heart of the Sana’a Declaration adopted at the Conference.
Yemen is the only country in the Arabian Peninsula that is signatory to the 1951 refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. It currently hosts 246,000 refugees, including over 230,000 Somalis and smaller numbers of Ethiopians, Eritreans, Iraqis and Syrians.
Yemen also hosted more than 334,000 internally displaced persons, either forced from their homes as a result of recent conflicts or living in longer-term displacement.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=49102#.VEHmzclwqM8
So, on the face of it, it seems Yemen treats all boat refugees more in accordance to international commitments than Australia does.
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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