Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Statelessness

FACTSHEET Refugees and asylum seekers, including stateless persons Background information offshore: 180 in Nauru and 181 in Papua New Since late 2013, Australia has persistently Guinea. undermined the institution of asylum by As at August 2020, almost 5,000 people who intercepting people seeking asylum at sea and arrived in Australia by boat in 2012-13 and implementing rapid returns, with rudimentary sought asylum were still waiting for the screening and without access to legal advice outcome of their applications. A further or fair process. Australia has also returned 8,400 people were refused protection in a people at airports without properly assessing refugee status determination procedure that their claims. lacks important procedural safeguards and is Non-citizens who do not hold a visa are inconsistent with international standards. subject to mandatory, indefinite and non- reviewable detention. As of 30 June 2020, Arbitrary detention in prison-like 1,523 people were detained in immigration conditions detention facilities in Australia. The average The legal framework for immigration detention length of time spent in detention has does not require consideration of necessity, increased by 40% since March 2015 (when reasonableness and proportionality, and is the previous round of NGO reporting was therefore liable to produce cases of arbitrary published) and grew from 394 days to 551 detention. days in June 2020. Some people are spending In recent years, the conditions of immigration in excess of ten years in immigration detention facilities have become more prison- detention. like. The use of restrictive measures such as Children previously transferred to Nauru have controlled movement policies, a lower been either temporarily transferred to Australia threshold for using single separation units, or settled permanently in a third country. frequent body searches and common use of However, the legislation that requires the force are all contributing factors. People in detention of all ‘unlawful non-citizens’ detention are often mechanically restrained continues to make no exceptions for children when they are transported outside for medical or people with special needs. Currently, appointments and court appearances. several children are detained in Australia continues to use remote detention immigration detention facilities in Australia, centres. Over the past year, the remote and some remain there more than two years detention facilities in Christmas Island held after they were first detained. only one family with their two young children. Offshore processing of asylum seekers The Australian Government recently continues. As of 31 July 2020, 361 refugees announced that it would transfer hundreds of and people of concern who arrived in people to these detention facilities in response Australia in 2013 and 2014 were still held to overcrowding in the detention network. This is mainly because of the government’s refusal to use community alternatives to detention, of 12 people (mostly due to medical neglect even during the COVID-19 pandemic. and suicide). In December 2019, the Australian Subsequent to legislative changes in Parliament repealed the so-called ‘Medevac December 2014, increasing numbers of non- legislation’, which enabled refugees and citizens, including refugees, have been people seeking asylum held offshore to be detained due to criminal charges, convictions transferred to Australia for necessary medical or association with criminal gangs. As non- treatment. This repeal has significantly limited refoulement obligations are given insufficient their access to essential medical treatment. weight in decisions to detain (and release) in Almost all of the people who have been these circumstances, this increase has transferred to Australia under the Medevac resulted in a growing number of refugees legislation remain in overcrowded immigration being detained indefinitely. Australia also lacks detention facilities, seven years after they first a statelessness determination procedure or sought asylum in Australia. specific visa category for stateless persons. There is also a lack of durable solutions for this Stateless persons in Australia, including group. The resettlement agreement that stateless refugees, are therefore at particular Australia made with the United States of risk of indefinite detention as there is no America in 2016 offers far fewer places than country to which stateless persons can be the number of people in need of a long-term returned as a national. solution. Almost four years after the agreement was announced, only 803 refugees have been Recommendation resettled in the United States. Australia must: repeal the legal framework for Recommendation mandatory detention and introduce The Australian Government must end legislative criteria to guide individual offshore processing immediately and all decisions to detain in accordance those people who are yet to access with its human rights obligations; durable solutions should be brought to ensure that immigration detention is Australia. subject to maximum timeframes and independent review; Major gaps in protection introduce legislation prohibiting the Since December 2014, Australian law has detention of children; formally stated that non-refoulement implement ways to manage risks in obligations are “irrelevant” to the involuntary immigration detention without removal of non-citizens from Australia. resorting to excessive or arbitrary People seeking asylum in Australia are use of force, use of restraints and increasingly driven to destitution as they wait securitisation of the facilities years for the outcome of their asylum (consistent with the legal principle applications. Restrictive new eligibility criteria that immigration detention is for Government-funded income and casework intended to be administrative and support mean many have lost access to not punitive in nature); and funded support services. This has hindered introduce a statelessness vulnerable people’s access to affordable determination procedure and visa healthcare and resulted in despair, mental ill category to protect stateless health and several instances of suicide in the persons. community. The majority of asylum seekers have no access to Government-funded legal Offshore processing advice, increasing the risk of refoulement. More than seven years of offshore processing Since 2014, people who are recognised as policies have resulted in debilitating mental refugees after earlier entering Australia without health problems and chronic physical health a valid visa are only eligible for a temporary issues for hundreds of refugees and the death protection visa. These refugees are required to 2 re-establish their eligibility for refugee status every three or five years (depending on their visa type). They can never become Australian citizens. Refugees who arrived in Australia by boat many years ago are affected by a discriminatory policy which effectively prevents their immediate family members outside Australia from joining them. Refugees who have been granted temporary protection are similarly prevented from ever sponsoring their partners and children. Recommendation Australia must: codify its non-refoulement obligations in law; ensure people seeking asylum have access to appropriate support while awaiting the outcome of their asylum applications and end the temporary protection visa regime; and end discriminatory family reunion policies based on mode of arrival. Further information and key contacts The UPR NGO Coalition Report is available at https://www.hrlc.org.au/universal-periodic- review. The key contacts for this factsheet are: Sahar Okhovat, Refugee Council of Australia, [email protected] Rebecca Eckard, Refugee Council of Australia, [email protected] 3 .

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