Australian Immigration Daily News

The death of person who sought asylum in Australia but was exiled offshore for five years is a another bloody stain on Australia’s national conscience, Greens Immigration spokesperson Nick McKim says. “This is yet another life lost due to our country's cruel and inhumane refugee policies," Senator McKim said. "This tragedy was entirely predictable, yet the Liberals and ALP remain in cruel policy lockstep.”

“Australia’s offshore detention system has been a humanitarian calamity and one of the darkest chapters in our country’s story.” “How many more lives need to be lost? How many more shattered hopes and dreams? How many more days of lost hope and yearning for freedom?”

“This is an emergency. Australia’s detention centres on Manus island and Nauru must be evacuated and every woman, man and child immediately brought to Australia so we can try to help them rebuild their lives.”

The Australian Government is currently developing a proposed model for a Commonwealth Forced Marriage Protection Order scheme, in consultation with relevant stakeholders.

“The Government criminalised forced marriage in 2013 to send a clear message that this harmful practice is unacceptable in Australia,” Assistant Minister for Home Affairs, Alex Hawke said.

“Strengthening our response to forced marriage is a key area of focus under the Government’s National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking and Slavery 2015–19.“The Government has already committed to provide victims of forced marriage access up to 200 days of support through the Support for Trafficked People Program without being required to contribute to a criminal investigation or prosecution. “Forced Marriage Protection Orders will complement our existing criminal offences and provide a flexible civil remedy for people in, or at risk of, forced marriage.”

Details issues identified after receiving significant number of complaints about education agent based in Queensland

This paper details issues identified by our Office after receiving a significant number of complaints about an education agent based in Queensland, who allegedly defrauded overseas students of tuition and other fees.

As a result of the Office’s investigations and the valuable collaboration and support of other departments and agencies, positive results were achieved for those students who were enrolled but had not been paid a refund of the fees they were entitled to under the Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act. However, those who were not yet enrolled (i.e. intending students) fell outside of the protection framework.

Mr Manthorpe emphasised that “while the actions of one agent are not indicative of a system failure, this incident has highlighted opportunities for improvements when it comes to the administration of the international student protection framework”.

Source: Commonwealth-Ombudsman-issues-paper-released-re-administration-of-international-student-protection.pdf

This report provides information on the processing status and outcomes of the applicants who are Illegal Maritime Arrivals (IMAs) and are in the IMA Legacy Caseload.

IMAs can only apply for a Temporary Protection Visa (subclass 785) (TPV) or a Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (subclass 790) (SHEV) if the Minister has made a decision that it is in the public interest to lift a legislative bar on making a valid visa application in Australia. Where the Minister lifts the bar, the Department will advise the IMA that they are eligible to apply for a TPV or a SHEV.

Source: IMA-Legacy-Caseload.pdf