Oceania

Afghan Asylum Seekers Removed from Christmas Island

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia –   Australia transported thirty young asylum seekers from Christmas Island to the mainland due to overcrowded conditions at the detention facility.

Earlier this past week, thirty Afghans, most of which are reportedly boys, will be held at Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation at Broadmeadows until immigration officers can process them.

Thirty-five individuals responsible for bringing asylum seekers to Australia were also taken from Christmas Island and brought to another facility in Darwin.

In addition, ten Afghan youths, who were relocated to Melbourne last September, have been released into the community.

The Christmas Island detention center has almost reached its maximum capacity, or approximately 1,432 individuals.

An immigration spokesperson for the Opposition, Scott Morrison, stated that the government must look into other facilities for holding the asylum seekers while they await processing, as Christmas Island is nearing its capacity.

“The government should be seeking to identify alternative off-shore processing options if they cannot accommodate people on Christmas Island,” he said.

The Opposition believes that the government’s actions will encourage the people smugglers, in that it will be possible for them to get these asylum seekers all the way to the mainland.

Advocates for the asylum seekers expressed approval for transferring the Afghan boys to Melbourne.  However, they did not see that there was a reason to keep the youths in a detention facility.

A representative of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre questioned the necessity of detaining youths who “fled persecution and are about to be granted protection.”

Immigration Minister Chris Evans indicated that these Afghan youths would get “priority processing” in the Melbourne facility.

The Government denied that overcrowded conditions on Christmas Island prompted the decision to move the asylum seekers.

Further, the Government indicated that relocating some of the asylum seekers is not a reflection of a shift in policy from those of the previous administration.  Opposition officials claim that the current administration’s policy is undermining the system of offshore processing.

According to acting Immigration Minister Robert McClelland, children and families were transported to the mainland in some cases for processing under the previous administration.

Although the Government claims their legal status as offshore arrivals is not affected, the opposition believes that this decision may allow asylum seekers to challenge detention in the courts on the mainland.

Approximately 1,400 asylum seekers remain in detention on Christmas Island, just over 1,200 of which are in immigration detention, 102 individuals occupy tents, and the remainder lives in the community.

For more information please see:
Sydney Morning Herald – Young refugees taken off island – 24 December 2009

ABC News – Asylum seekers moved to Melbourne – 23 December 2009

Herald Sun – Asylum-seekers relocated to Australia – 23 December 2009

Australia asks Canada to Resettle Tamils

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia – Australia has asked the Canadian government to resettle a small number of Tamil refugees whose boat was found in international waters last October.

Australia has used “robust foreign diplomacy”, calling upon other countries to resettle the asylum seekers.

Canada has agreed to consider those refugees who have close family in Canada.

A representative of Australia’ Department of Citizenship and Immigration, Douglas Kellam, stated that “[t]he only cases Canada has agreed to consider – and none have been accepted so far – are those that can demonstrate that they have close family links to somebody here in Canada, that they have been referred by the UNHCR … and we’ll have to be satisfied that they are not otherwise inadmissible to Canada,”

In October, approximately seventy-eight Sri Lankan Tamil were rescued by an Australian customs vessel, the Oceanic Viking, and brought back to Indonesia.   The Tamils refused to disembark when they were brought back to Indonesia, where they had been living for a few years.

The result was a month long stand-off, with the Tamils refusing to leave the Oceanic Viking.

Last month, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), whose job is to find countries to resettle refugees, officially declared the Tamils to be refugees and prompted the Australian government to find homes for them.

Canada is not the only country involved in discussions to resettle the Tamil refugees.  Norway and New Zealand have also offered to support the United Nations to take in some of the refugees, and the U.S. may also be in discussions with Australia.

New Zealand refused to accept some of the Tamils last month.  However, New Zealand’s Immigration minister claims that it may reconsider.

Dr. Jonathan Coleman said, “If people from the Oceanic Viking were to be included as part of the normal refugee quota selection process facilitated by UNHCR, New Zealand would be prepared to consider them.”

The Department of Citizenship and Immigration official stated that Australia is unsure of the number of refugees that will resettle in Canada.

According to Kellam, “it is not a common thing” for Australia to ask other countries to take in refugees.

Australia will begin its resettlement program next weekend.

For more information please see:
National Post – Australia asks Canada to resettle Tamil refugees – 18 December 2009

New Zealand Herald – NZ considers accepting Tamil boatpeople – report – 18 December 2009

ABC News – Australia looks to friends to resettle Tamils – 17 December 2009

Tonga Political Party Requests Interim Parliament

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga – A Tonga political party says an interim Parliament should be elected to consider the recommendations for greater democracy compiled by the Constitutional and Electoral Commission.

The Legislative Assembly has been discussing the political reform that Tonga might follow.

The Paati Langfonua Tu’uloa is one of many political parties that called for the recommendations to be endorsed immediately when the Constitutional and Electoral Commission’s report was made public.

However, for the last few weeks there has been much debate about the recommendations in the Assembly. The Cabinet has been pushing for a number of changes.

One possibility the Cabinet suggested is for the House not to take a vote on the Report, as that would be counterproductive at this stage, but to establish a Parliamentary Tri-partite Committee to consider the various possible routes, strive for consensus as much as possible, and then report back to the House next year.

The general secretary of Paati Langfonua Tu’uloa, Kamipeli Tofa, stated that he was “worried that many MPs lack independence of thought and many are motivated by self-interest.”

Tofa stated that the best thing would be for a new Parliament to be put in place under the new electoral rules, and for that body to then consider any other changes which might be necessary.

He further stated: “With seventeen members elected by the people and nine by the nobles and maybe under the existing monarchy because he has made it very clear that he wants no involvement in politics. With that new parliament they can then address some of the issues, or points of difference, that are currently existing in the existing parliament.”

The Prime Minister, Feleti V. Sevele, in his statement regarding the Government’s Roadmap for Political Reform, he said: “Before outlining what Government considers are the milestones that underpin the political roadmap that it believes Parliament and Tonga should follow, it is imperative that our minds are cast back to the beginning stages of the Political Reforms which His Late Majesty started back in 2004.”

For more information, please see:
Islands Business – Tongan political party calls for interim measure on reform recommendations – 17 December 2009

Pacific Islands News Association – Tongan political party calls for interim measure on reform recommendations – 17 December 2009

Radio New Zealand International – Tonga political party calls for interim measure on reform recommendations – 17 December 2009

Our Constitution – Government’s Roadmap for Political Reform: Prime Minister’s Statement – 18 December 2009

Democratic Reform in Tonga Continues

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga – Kalafi Moala, a newspaper publisher in Tonga, says that the democratic reform program for Tonga continues to progress and the government is committed to the reforms.

Since the 1990s, Tonga has struggled in the fight for democratic reforms. The Pro-Democracy Movement was founded in 1992, and was later renamed in 1998 to the Tonga Human Rights and Democracy Movement.

The Tonga Human Rights and Democracy Movement believes that changes are needed to bring about more democratic governance in Tonga. They address the ongoing issues in Tonga that relate to social justice, exploitation of the poor, inequality, womens’ rights, constitutional amendments, and corruption.

In 1999, a pro-democracy movement was organized to discuss a new, more democratic constitution.

However, a scandal was exposed in 2001, and in 2003 changes in the constitution were made to give the king greater powers and increased the state control of the media.

In 2005, there was a prolonged strike and campaigners for political reform rallied the streets. The protests erupted into violence. Thousands of people marched through the capital, demanding democratic reform.

Riots continued on during 2006 in the capital Nuku’alofa to protest the lack of democratic reforms. Eight people were killed and much of the business district was destroyed.

After King Tupou V finally announced that he will relinquish his near-absolute power held by the monarchy and introduce democratic reforms in 2008, Tonga finally began to implement the democratic reforms that was promised more than a decade ago.

Recently, a committee on constitutional reform was created, called the People’s Committee for Political Reform, and the Committee recommended introducing a popularly elected parliament and reducing the monarchy to a largely “ceremonial role.”

Earlier this month, Akilisi Pohiva, the chair of the People’s Committee for Political Reform, said that the government should endorse a report on democratic reforms to ensure there is no more violence in the country. The Committee urges the government to make quick democratic reforms to prevent any incidents of violence like those in 2005 and 2006.

Currently, a newspaper publisher in Tonga, Kalafi Moala, is confident that the democratic reform program remains on track and that the government is committed to the process.

The Public Servants Association says that the government is “watering down” the reforms and could delay the planned elections in November next year under the amendments.

However, Moalo disagrees, and says this is not the case.

Moalo emphasized that all the MPs have worked hard to implement the recommendations made by the Constitutional and Electoral Commission.

Moalo stated: “Talking to people on the government side as well as People’s Representatives – they are both confident that they are going to meet the deadline. That’s why they are holding extra sessions during the holidays, that’s why they have been working overtime, having evening sessions, because they feel that they want to come in the next session next year all ready to formulate these legislations.”

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – Tonga observer confident reform process is on track – 15 December 2009

Pacific Islands Report – Tonga Democracy Movement Urges Quick Reforms – 30 November 2009

BBC News – Timeline: Tonga – 16 November 2009

Human Rights & Democracy Movement in Tonga  – Human Rights & Democracy Movement in Tonga

Australia Erects Tents As Christmas Island Reaches Capacity

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia – Australia’s Immigration Department announced that the maximum capacity of the detention facility at Christmas Island has been reached.

The latest arrival of asylum seekers has caused Christmas Island to exceed its capacity.  As a result, the government has set up tents in order to accommodate the increase.

The facility on Christmas Island can hold up to 1,550 individuals, and the tents can hold an additional 160.

On Thursday afternoon Australian border protection authorities intercepted a boat, which carried asylum seekers.  This is the third boat this week and the 54th this year, to arrive in Australia’s waters.

Since December 6th, 156 passengers and crew members have been detained and taken to Christmas Island for security, identity, and health checks.

Opposition lawmakers anticipate that the situation will become increasingly worse if this continues.  The decision to put individuals in tents “highlights the manifest failure of [Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s] policy”.

Scott Morrison, the opposition’s immigration spokesman, stated that Christmas Island will become a “tent city”.

“Christmas Island is now overcapacity and these desperate people will be spending the hot summer months on Christmas Island under tents.”

Refugee groups have called on the government to close the detention facility and to bring the asylum seekers to the mainland for processing.

In the meantime, more immigrants are expected to arrive.  In order to ease the situation, temporary buildings are being shipped to Christmas Island.

The Immigration Department plans to expand the $400 million detention facility.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard rejected claims that the government has weakened its border controls and has thus caused the increase of individuals seeking asylum.

She noted that the administration has increased its presence and tightened border security.  Even in doing so, boats carrying asylum seekers are bound to pass through.

Many blame the increase in asylum seekers on the ongoing conflicts in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Every year Australia grants approximately 13,000 visas to refugees under official humanitarian policies.

For more information please see:
Voice of America – Controversial Australian Detention Camp Overflows Amid Rush of Boatpeople – 12 December 2009

Bloomberg – Australia Intercepts Third Asylum Boat This Week, Expands Camp – 11 December 2009

Sydney Morning Herald – Asylum seekers being forced into tents – 11 December 2009