Bloody Boat People!

[Br.IanVonTurpie]

http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/national/asylum-seekers-yet-to-land-at-curtin/story-fnjbnvyj-1227003256927


A GROUP of 157 asylum seekers detained at sea for weeks on a Customs ship has landed at Cocos Island and could arrive on the Australian mainland within hours, refugee advocates say. 
 
THE Refugee Action Coalition says the asylum seekers were seen disembarking at 2pm (AEST) on Sunday.
They were headed to the island's airport from where they will be flown to Curtin detention centre in Western Australia.
"There's no schedule, but given the lack of facilities on Cocos Island, they will probably try and get them on a plane soon - not everybody by today, but most," spokesman Ian Rintoul told AAP.
The federal government is not confirming the movements.
The group of 157, including children, has been detained at sea since their boat was intercepted 27km from Christmas Island on July 7.
After arriving at Curtin, they will undergo identity checks by Indian consular officials.
India has agreed to take back its citizens and will consider taking Sri Lankan nationals who are Indian residents.
Australian Greens say the group has a legal right to apply for asylum in Australia.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is travelling to Curtin in the next few days to inquire on the children's welfare and to brief the asylum seekers of their rights.
"Just because (Prime Minister) Tony Abbott wants to trade in their lives, doesn't make it legal," she told reporters in Adelaide on Sunday.
Mr Abbott has said the handling of the asylum seekers is not illegal and in accordance with Australia's international obligations.
But he stressed they could never call Australia home because they did not come the "right way".
The decision to bring the group to land pre-empts a High Court challenge against their detention at sea.

[Br.IanVonTurpie]

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/asylum-seekers-being-given-the-same-generic-birthday-dates-as-government-redetermines-their-ages/story-fni6uo1m-1227002708115


ASYLUM seekers are being given the same generic birthday dates as the Federal Government redetermines their ages, it has been claimed. 
 
The Sunday Mail has been told up to 50 Afghan asylum seekers with a range of ages were all given the same birthday – the same day, the same month, the same year.

After fleeing Pakistan, where he had lived since he was tiny, Ali arrived on Christmas Island with about 50 other Afghan Hazaras in 2012. The Department took them in small groups to interview them and work out how old they were.

Ali says they were peppered with confusing questions and that the questioner seemed to think that because he'd had a job in Pakistan – he worked from a young age to support his mum and sisters – he must be older than he was saying.

"They told me you have to sign this paper that you are over 18. They were so angry, I was so afraid," he said.

He signed the paper, which made him an adult. He was 16, he says.

He said many of the others he arrived with were given the same birthday.

It's not having a different age that bothers him, but that being an adult means he can't go to school, and that he is not allowed to work either, so he can't help his mum and siblings in Pakistan.

"I want to go to school, to do something, but I'm not allowed," he told the Sunday Mail.

"If I got a chance, I'd study. I wouldn't let anyone down."

He points out that one of the reasons his people have fled the Taliban is that they won't let people go to school. Asked how he felt, he said:

"You are eating your own self from the inside," he said.

"You are not a human being. You ask 'am I a human, or not?'."

A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said the Government was continuing the previous Government's policy, and that people are treated as minors until a different finding is made.

"All age determination interviews are conducted in the presence of an Independent Observer whose role it is to ensure the health and wellbeing of the individual," she said.

Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said she thought the Government reclassified people's ages so they could reduce their support or send them to adult detention centres.

Meanwhile, at least three families living at Inverbrackie are petrified they are about to be sent to Christmas Island.

Senator Hanson-Young this week visited Inverbrackie, and she told the Sunday Mail that there are at least three Australian-born babies there who are now six weeks old. Pregnant mothers are brought to the mainland to give birth then sent back when their babies are old enough.

The Human Rights Commission said this week that all the children on Christmas Island are sick.

[Br.IanVonTurpie]

http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/refugees-left-high-and-dry-as-centre-cuts-staff/story-fnk0b1zt-1227112612284


THE Federal Government's policy of reducing its refugee intake and turning back asylum seeker boats has gutted Darwin's sole provider of humanitarian settlement services. 
 
In the past week, a substantial portion of its experienced team have been made redundant.

At its peak in 2010-11, the Melaleuca Refugee Centre provided settlement support for 165 refugees, most of whom were settled in Darwin because of cultural or family links to the area. Melaleuca Refugee Centre director Caz Coleman said the Immigration Department was only planning to settle 60 refugees in the Darwin area this financial year, half the number than during the previous 12 months.

The centre receives federal funding for each refugee it provides settlement services to, meaning the reduction in its quota of refugees has resulted in a substantial funding cut, forcing the redundancies.

Ms Coleman said that long-term, the staff cuts would hurt both the centre and the Darwin refugee community. "Small service providers feel it the worst when they get a big (funding) cut," she said.

She said the refugee centre had a strong track record of providing social work, housing assistance and casework to the Darwin refugee community.

"All the staff we've lost have been highly skilled and experienced in their area of work," she said.

"A number of politicians want refugees to be settled in regional areas, and if that does end up happening, it will be very hard for us to scale out services back up again."

Former deputy chief minister Dave Tollner, who recently told the NT News he plans to turn his attention towards refugee advocacy, said the Federal Government should be looking to increase, rather than decrease, the number of refugees in the Territory.

"In my view this is exactly the wrong time for the Federal Government to be changing the quotas (of refugees)," he said. "We've still got shortages of workers. Darwin is the best place to have refugees, with such a diverse and multicultural population."

Former refugee Carine Kapiamba, who arrived in Darwin in 2008 after fleeing a war-torn Congo, said the centre had been crucial to her family's settlement in Australia, and that the cuts were concerning.

"Being a refugee is not easy, it's a lot to overcome," she said.


:'( Ah ! Boo HOO! the whole refugee industry is falling to bits now ! they seem to make it sound like it is sad the unwelcome invaders aren't coming anymore! What the hell is wrong with them? BLOODY FANTASTIC THEY AREN'T SHOWING UP! GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD RUBBISH!

[Br.IanVonTurpie]

http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/pregnant-detainees-refuse-to-get-off-a-bus-at-wickham-point-say-they-were-tricked-into-coming-to-darwin/story-fnk0b1zt-1227141016181


TWO heavily pregnant women who were transported from Nauru to give birth in Darwin have been sitting on a bus with their families at Wickham Point Detention Centre for over 40 hours and refuse to get off. 
 
Refugee advocate Ian Rintoul said the women and their families were prepared to wait "as long as it takes" to be returned to Nauru.

"They're not getting off," Mr Rintoul told the NT News.

Mr Rintoul said the Iranian families, including a 10-year-old boy, had been tricked into coming to Darwin.

Before they left Nauru, the families were told that they would be accommodated in the community in Darwin," Mr Rintoul said.

"But on arrival were told they would be taken to detention at Wickham Point.

"Both women are around eight months pregnant.

"One family, Adnan and his wife, Maryam travelled with their 10 year old son, Amir.

"The other couple, Hossein and his wife, is Iranian Kurdish."

Mr Rintoul said the young boy was believed to have got off the bus as an "arrangement of convenience" around 2pm today.

"The boy ... has been detained," Mr Rintoul said.

"He has been allowed to go into Bladin Detention (Centre) but the family is still on the bus."

Mr Rintoul said both families had been "living freely" in detention on Nauru for about 15 months "since being found to be refugees".


"The families have told Immigration officers they would rather take the risk and be sent back to Nauru than spend one night in detention," Mr Rintoul said.

"The families have offered to pay for their own motel accommodation, rather than be sent to detention.

"They are recognised refugees and should be afforded every protection, leave aside the unnecessary stress and anxiety that being inflicted on the pregnant women."

Mr Rintoul said the Refugee Action Coalition was "calling on Immigration to immediately arrange community accommodation for the families".

"They could be accommodated in the community in an instant," Mr Rintoul said.

"Adnan has a brother living in Melbourne that is more than willing to support and accommodate them."

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said the Department and detention service provider was "continuing to engage proactively and sensitively with the families to resolve the situation".

"The Minister has been advised the transferees were not informed they would be placed in the community but would be housed at the Wickham Point alternative place of detention (APOD)," the spokesman said.

"The transferees are receiving care appropriate to their condition."

Mr Rintoul said the incident was "just one more example of the cruelty and bureaucratic madness of Morrison's refugee policy".

"The treatment of all the asylum seekers and refugees on Nauru has recently drawn international

condemnation from the UN Committee of Torture," Mr Rintoul said.

Bastards should shut up and get what they are given! What are they worried about? Giving birth in detention meaning their new born kids aren't Australians?

[Br.IanVonTurpie]

http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/two-pregnant-refugees-have-been-detained-by-immigration-after-a-three-day-standoff-in-darwin/story-fnk0b1zt-1227141861597


THE two pregnant women who say they were tricked into coming to Darwin from Nauru have been detained by Immigration after a three day standoff on-board a bus parked at Wickham Point Detention Centre. 
 
Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said the Iranian women were told they were coming to Darwin with their husbands, and a 10-year-old boy, to live in the community while waiting to give birth.

He said the families were instead driven directly to Wickham Point Detention Centre and had refused to get off the bus since arriving on Saturday at 10pm.

"The young boy and his father have been going between Bladin Detention and the bus since yesterday as an arrangement of convenience," Mr Rintoul said.

"There was no point keeping the child on the bus."

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said all of those on the bus were "now accommodated in immigration detention facilities in Darwin".

READ: PREGNANT REFUGEES REFUSE TO GET OFF BUS

"Two IHMS midwives have been monitoring the women overnight," Mr Morrison said on Tuesday morning.

"Staff continue to engage with the individuals and provide appropriate services and support.

"The women and their families were temporarily transferred to Australia for medical purposes. "The families hold valid Nauruan visas and have been settled in that country. They do not hold an Australian visa.

"The women have been placed in the facility best suited to their medical needs. Other family members have been accommodated voluntarily, according to their preference."

Mr Rintoul slammed the Minister, describing his comments as "far-fetched".

"He would say that," Mr Rintoul said.

"It's pretty far-fetched that the refugees would come to Darwin and tell lies so they could stay stuck on a bus for days.

"They should be able to reside in any house or hotel room — which they have offered to provide for themselves — as they were first promised they would be able to."

The families will reportedly be returned to Nauru once the women have given birth to their newborns.

[Br.IanVonTurpie]

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/peter-dutton-insists-the-governments-resolve-on-asylum-seekers-remains-despite-hunger-strikes-on-manus-island/story-fni6ulvf-1227187069998


PETER Dutton has delivered asylum seekers on Manus Island a "clear, strong, determined" message: despite your hunger striking you will never be settled in Australia. 
 
Following days of protest and incidents of self-harm, the new Immigration Minister insisted his "resolve" is the same as Scott Morrison's.



"Our resolve will not be swayed one bit by a change in behaviour," he said, addressing reporters on the Gold Coast.
My message today is very clear, to the transferrees on Manus and in other facilities ... whilst there has been a change of Minister, the absolute resolve of me as the new Minister and of the government is to make sure that for those transferrees, they will never arrive in Australia.

"They will never be settled in Australia."

Mr Dutton said he was "disturbed" by reports of the actions of some within the centre — including cases of self harm.

One asylum seeker is believed to have swallowed razor blades, others are said to have sewn their lips together.

"I want to say to people who are the transferrees ... that regardless of what you might be told by people within the centre, or advocates or people in the broader community, that somehow with a change of minister, that the situation has changed ... or the way in which in government will deal with these matters, is absolutely wrong."

The Minister said the situation in the facility, where a riot last year saw the death of Reza Berati, was "volatile".

"There is support being provided to those who are engaged in self-harm and the government will make sure that we continue to provide the support," he said.

"We're certainly not swaying in our support one bit, we are rock solid behind the PNG government and the work they're doing in the Manus regional centre that hasn't changed."

Mr Dutton said to advocates and "ringleaders" in the centre encouraging misbehaviour, "that information is dead wrong, it is causing trouble."


Good somebody is robust in their ways here! Like? Who wants these queue jumpers? You want wierdos going around stitching their lips  up and eating razors?