Asylum seeker rights
Media and commentary related to our work on asylum seeker rights and ensuring access to health care in Australian immigration detention.
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Time for action on OPCAT
PIAC welcomes the release of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s recommendations for how Australia should implement the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT), published on 29 June. The release of ‘Implementing OPCAT in Australia’ is the final step in the Commission’s consultation process with…
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Ombudsman statement on COVID-19 risks in immigration detention: Department urged to reduce numbers
PIAC welcomes the statement by the Commonwealth Ombudsman following his investigation into the management of COVID-19 risks in immigration detention, released today. Staggeringly, the statement reveals that numbers in our overcrowded detention centres have in fact gone up in recent months, despite the clear and consistent recommendations of public health and infectious diseases experts to…
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Ban on mobile phones in immigration detention unnecessary, unjustified and harmful
The Government’s proposal to allow blanket-bans of mobile phones in immigration detention and extend search powers to allow invasive strip searches and the use of detection dogs, could have serious negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of women and men in detention. It is also unnecessary and unjustified. PIAC’s response to the proposal has…
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Commonwealth Ombudsman to report on COVID-19 responses in detention facilities
Commonwealth Ombudsman Michael Manthorpe is investigating how detention facilities in Australia have acted to protect asylum seekers, refugees and others being held during the coronavirus pandemic, and whether any detainees should be released on health grounds. “Staff from the Office visited the Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation and the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation on Friday 22…
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SMH: Asylum seekers lodge claim to address detention virus fears
Public Interest Advocacy Centre chief executive Jonathon Hunyor said the best way to ease the risk of infection would be to reduce the number of asylum seekers in the cramped conditions by releasing some of them into community detention. “We think there’s an important accountability function for the ombudsman to check the Department of Home…
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COVID-19: Group complaint for asylum seekers at risk in immigration detention calls for urgent investigation
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre has today filed a group complaint with the Commonwealth Ombudsman for 13 men in Australian immigration facilities who fear that an outbreak of COVID-19 could prove catastrophic for detainees, staff and the broader community. The complaint calls for an urgent inspection of immigration detention facilities and alternative places of detention,…