By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania
CANBERRA, Australia – In light of recent controversy surrounding the Government’s immigration policies, Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans announced the establishment of a new advisory board.
The Council of Immigration Services and Status Resolution (“CISSR”) will advise the Minister on matters involving the new immigration policies, including New Directions in Detention and the newly created Community Status Resolution Service.
By providing independent advice on policies, services, and programs, the council aims to “resolv[e] the immigration status of people [seeking asylum or other migration outcomes] quickly and fairly while ensuring they are treated humanely and with dignity and respect”.
CISSR will be comprised of individuals from various sectors, ranging from a former Air Force official and a member of the Governing Council of the International Catholic Migration Commission to an Associate Professor at the University of South Australia’s school of nursing and the chair of the Violence Against Women Advisory Group.
Council members will use their diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise to assist in the implementation of the New Directions in Detention policy.
The Minister, while expressing his gratitude to the previous Immigration Detention Advisory Group for “valuable and long-standing contribution[s]”, believes that the new committee’s “community links will help strengthen the provision of community services to immigration clients in support of timely case resolution”.
In addition to advising the Minister on programs aimed at resolving immigration status outcomes, the CISSR will also provide guidance with respect to detention matters and the “adequacy of services available to assist people whose immigration status is unresolved”. More specifically, the council will attempt to resolve the immigration status of an individual from within the community as opposed to the confines of a detention facility.
This announcement comes as the Government faces problems with the influx of people seeking asylum in Australia.
The Indonesian navy intercepted a boat today carrying approximately 260 Sri Lankan asylum seekers as they attempted to get to Australia. Many of these individuals will be taken to one of Australia’s immigration detention centers on Christmas Island to have their applications processed.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been the subject of heavy criticism in the past few months, as opposition lawmakers blame the influx of asylum seekers on the administration’s lax immigration policy.
After coming to office in late 2007, the Prime Minister ended his predecessor’s policy, known as the “Pacific Solution”, which some lawmakers, including former immigration minister Philip Ruddock, would like to see reintroduced. Mr. Rudd’s new policy has placed an emphasis on expediting the claims of asylum seekers held on Christmas Island rather than keeping them detained for years in facilities in Nauru or Papua New Guinea.
The Prime Minister “makes no apologies whatsoever for deploying the most hardline measures necessary to deal with problems of illegal immigration into Australia”.
For more information, please see:
News.com.au – Boat fire refugees headed our way – 14 October 2009
BBC News – Australia PM seeks migrant help – 13 October 2009
Australia and New Zealand Magazine – New Advisory Body for Australian Migration Services – 12 October 2009
Australian Visa Bureau – Australian immigration advisory council announced – 12 October 2009
PS News – New Immigration Council allowed in – 12 October 2009
Australian Labor – New immigration advisory council – 09 October 2009
