Hotham ASP Fact Sheet 2 - June 2010.pdf Hotham Mission ASP Fact Sheet 1 - November 2009.pdf

HOTHAM MISSION ASP
FACT SHEETS

1. FACT SHEET 2: June 2010
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2. FACT SHEET 1: November 2009
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FACT SHEET NUMBER 2, JUNE 2010

1. IS AUSTRALIA UPHOLDING THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN?
   Hotham Mission ASP research challenges government on humanitarian appellant children
2. BUDGETS, POLICIES AND THE FEDERAL ELECTION
   Caz Coleman reviews the recent State and Federal Budgets, and the policy outlook approaching a Federal election.
3. A RECEPTION HOUSING FRAMEWORK FOR AUSTRALIA
   Hotham Mission ASP's recommendations to Government for housing asylum seekers.
4. FEDERAL OPPOSITION ASYLUM POLICY
   Notes on the Opposition's announcement.
5. HARD EXPERIENCE
   Two case stories illustrating problems and Hotham Mission ASP's work.

IS AUSTRALIA UPHOLDING THE RIGHTS OF "HUMANITARIAN APPELLANT" CHILDREN?

Most of the parents interviewed, whose cases were at this stage of appeal, lacked the income necessary to feed and house their children to the standards required by international law. Their poverty also restricted their children's access to healthcare and childhood leisure activities. At the same time, the children's rights to education and to freedom of religion and culture were found to be in large measure fulfilled.

The authors made seven recommendations, including these remedial and preventative measures:

• To expand the federal Community Assistance and Support Program to include all children of humanitarian appellants, as well as their parents and caregivers;
• To guarantee these children adequate, secure and affordable access to food, health care, housing, and sufficient income, to support an adequate standard of living;
• To establish a national Children's Commissioner to ensure a comprehensive approach to protecting the human rights of all children within Australia's jurisdiction; and
• To introduce all necessary and appropriate legislation to give effect to Australia's obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

BUDGETS, POLICIES AND THE FEDERAL ELECTION

Victorian Budget 2010

For the first time in recent history, the Victorian Government has allocated funding for asylum seeker communities. $300,000 will be provided in 2010-2011, and 1.3 million in 2011-2012, to assist "asylum seekers who lack access to essential services" and to contribute to "continuation of the Refugee Action Plan". Whilst the details are yet to be finalized, we celebrate this important recognition from the State Government of the services we provide, along with other local agencies, to vulnerable asylum seekers.

Commonwealth Budget 2010

There was little in this year's Federal Budget for asylum seekers living in the community. This is because funding of $77.4 million over four years was announced in the 2009 Federal Budget. That provision included funding for the Asylum Seeker Assistance Scheme (ASAS) and the Community Assistance and Support Program (CAS), both administered by the Red Cross. Hotham Mission ASP works with clients who cannot access either of these support programs. They remain at risk of homelessness and destitution without community support. Hotham Mission ASP continues to push for extension of these programs to vulnerable asylum seekers, and towards Government acceptance of responsibility for reception housing for asylum seekers. These issues are a primary focus of my participation in the Council for Immigration Services and Status Resolution (CISSR), which advises the Minister for Immigration.

What was revealed in this Federal Budget was an increase in spending on detention. $777 million was set aside for detention running costs, and $236 million for upgrades. It is a great disappointment to see such resources being invested in high security detention, rather than in community infrastructure, such as housing and community based immigration support and compliance programs.

Suspension of processing

On 9 April 2010, the Government suspended the processing of new asylum applications from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. This is a disappointing move given the high rate of protection claim approvals, to date, of claimants from both of these countries. The situation in both Sri Lanka and Afghanistan may in time change sufficiently to result in a lower approval rate, but suspending the processing now is an extreme measure. Hotham Mission ASP has highlighted the impacts of longer term detention on any asylum claimant, and has called on the Minister for Immigration to ensure that priority is given to transferring any children and families to the mainland.

Election mode

An election looms, and the impact seems to be a narrowing of differences in policy between the two major parties on issues affecting asylum seekers. Some of the more positive measures that were in train just twelve months ago, such as the introduction of Complementary Protection, have not been presented to parliament, due to the sensitivity of the asylum debate.

It is bitterly disappointing that Australia is headed for another election with the demonizing of asylum seekers at the fore. The expansion of high security detention by the Labor government is distressing, and there are no substantial alternatives in the Opposition's attack on Labor's asylum policy. Both parties will maintain mandatory detention, continue to detain children in low security detention facilities, and maintain offshore processing. However, the Coalition has also committed to re-introducing a number of measures that the Rudd Government has abolished, including the re-introduction of a form of Temporary Protection, and the re-introduction of Detention Debt.

Hotham Mission ASP will support distribution of election materials to be produced by Uniting Justice and others, that appropriately address issues affecting asylum seekers. We'll make materials and links available on our website. Please make your voice heard in opposition to demonizing language about asylum seekers and the implementation of regressive actions such as long term, remote detention, and temporary protection arrangements, among others.

Humanitarian Appellants

Many people have initially been confused by the difference between a 'refugee' and an 'asylum seeker'. To confuse you even more, we have developed a new term to more accurately describe many of the clients we work with - they are "humanitarian appellants". The term will appear in a number of our research projects soon to be released, so to make things easier, here are short definitions of the three terms;

• Refugee: A refugee is a person who has left their country of origin and has received recognition of their refugee status as defined by Article 1, of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
• Asylum Seeker: An asylum seeker is a person who has left their country of origin, and applied for recognition as a refugee, and is awaiting a decision on their application.
• Humanitarian Appellant: A humanitarian appellant is a person who has been refused refugee status in Australia and who has lodged an appeal to the Minister for Immigration to remain in Australia on humanitarian grounds (grounds other than the Refugee Convention).

Single Men

I want to highlight the situation of single men, many of whom are very young, and who are increasingly needing our help. Single men are unlikely to qualify for either of the government funded schemes, and are left to fend for themselves. Many will suffer severe hardship, isolation and poverty. They are technically allowed to find work, but their very short term visas and their understandable state of uncertainty and sometimes severe trauma, mean they rarely get work and find it near impossible to afford or access somewhere to live.

A RECEPTION HOUSING FRAMEWORK FOR AUSTRALIA

The project has found that the lack of access to safe, secure and affordable housing for asylum seekers is a significant gap in the Governmentfunded asylum seeker programs and transitional housing provision. Furthermore, consistent with Australia's human rights obligations, Australia needs a more humanitarian response to destitution and homelessness experienced by asylum seekers living in the community.

When published, the report will include a comprehensive overview of national and international findings on asylum housing and a fully costed model for the provision of transitional housing for asylum seekers. The asylum housing framework will be modelled on provision in Victoria with flexibility to deliver in other States in Australia.

The report of the research will be publicly released in June, and will be available on the Hotham Mission ASP website or in hard copy by request to the ASP office.

FEDERAL OPPOSITION ASYLUM POLICY

Of deep concern, and impacting most directly on Hotham Mission ASP's clients, is the a policy proposal to re-introduce the '45 day rule', denying the right to work for those who lodge their Protection claim after 45 days of arriving in Australia. Many of you will be aware, having participated in the 6-year-long campaign to remove this regulation, that there are a number of reasons people do not lodge a Protection claim before 45 days. Furthermore, statistics from the Department of Immigration show that people who apply for refugee status after 45 days are more likely to be refugees.

Pacific Solution

Profoundly damaging to the health and welfare of asylum seekers, particularly children and unaccompanied minors, is the proposal to re-introduce the 'Pacific Solution'. Under the last Coalition Government, this strategy cost taxpayers more than $1 billion over five years. Not only was it expensive, it was also unsuccessful in achieving the Coalitions aims. 70% of the people processed at Nauru and Manus were found to be refugees. Of these, 61% of boat arrivals were ultimately resettled to the Australian mainland, with a further 34% taken by New Zealand. Documentation of cases of trauma as a result of the experience of the 'Pacific Solution' raised serious questions about the impact of such a policy on the health and welfare of minors and adults alike.

Temporary Protection Visas (TPV)

The proposal to re-introduce a temporary form of Protection in Australia ignores the trauma described in numerous studies on the impact of TPV's. This was another policy that did not achieve the Coalition's objectives. 90% of TPV holders under the Howard government were eventually given permanent visas. Graeme Innes, Human Rights Commissioner, at the time of TPV abolishment in 2008, said that "The Temporary Protection Visa policy has created an unjust two-tiered system for refugees and has caused undue suffering and distress for many people trying to escape persecution."

Turning the boats back - ignoring the root causes

Failure to address the challenge of asylum on a regional and global level is a stark gap in the Opposition's policy framework. Rather than focusing on the root causes of displacement, the Opposition has sought to punish asylum seekers to address asylum arrivals. The Opposition has chosen to shift Australia's responsibilities on to neighbouring countries by turning boats back and warehousing asylum seekers on foreign land. There is a stark absence of policy for regional engagement to keep people safe in their country of origin, or regional engagement to discourage people from taking a potential life threatening trip on waters to Australia.

SHARNA'S STORY

Hotham Mission ASP case study on the 45 day rule.
Sharna fled her country in fear of her life. She secured a visa to enter Australia, and after her arrival set about trying to find a safe place to live. She wasn't aware of the 45 day rule. After two months, she found legal help to put in her protection visa application. She was denied the right to work because it hadn't been lodged within the first 45 days of arrival.

Sharna was worried for her own survival and even more deeply concerned about her two children whom she'd had to leave behind after her husband had been killed. Without the right to work, it seemed she couldn't survive and she couldn't send help to her children. Sharna had been a very strong woman but began to become isolated and depressed. She wanted to return to her country and face the consequences of the danger she would re-enter, but her family made it clear that she was still being pursued and needed to stay away.

We encourage you to take up these issues with the Federal Opposition. For more information, go to;

• Refugee Council of Australia/A Just Australia
• UnitingJustice

HARD EXPERIENCE

Sachin arrived in Melbourne eight months ago. His small business was burnt down after he witnessed a violent attack on a neighbour. He had no choice but to flee, leaving behind his wife and their two young children, who are now living in hiding.

Prior to finding Hotham Mission ASP, Sachin spent his nights sleeping on acquaintances couches and on a bench at the Flagstaff Gardens. He now has a roof over his head, thanks to a loyal Hotham Mission ASP donor. His anxiety is decreasing and Hotham Mission ASP is helping him to actively engage with a group of professionals who are ensuring that he stays as healthy and positive as possible as his Protection case progresses through the Refugee Review Tribunal. In the meantime, Sachin survives on the Basic Living Allowance of $145 per month provided by Hotham Mission ASP and a small amount of food vouchers given by agencies in the sector.

SALEH'S STORY It's not always the money

Saleh arrived without appointment, distressed and anxious, hoping to see a caseworker for the first time in the thirteen years he had been in Australia. A friend told him about Hotham Mission ASP.

Hotham Mission ASP will support Saleh in either of two ways. If the lawyer believes that Saleh has protection or humanitarian claims, we will provide casework support till there is a visa outcome. If the lawyer advises that Saleh has no claim, then we will provide return counseling for Saleh and appropriate referrals to other services, in the hope that he can safely return to his country of origin.