‘Poetry can break open locked chambers of possibility, restore numbed zones to feeling, recharge desire’ – Adrienne Rich Writing to the Wire is a collection of poems about Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. Featuring poetry from academics, writers, refugee advocates and refugees themselves, it is a powerful look at our national identity, namely,…
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When politicians make fools of themselves on social media, it’s fair to say that it’s an almost pleasurable experience to survey the ensuing wrath from the comfort of our smartphones. It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for our Aussie pollies. We are able to look back in a kind of awe at the…
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Trigger warning: rape, sexual assault and harassment Last week footage surfaced of a Somali woman being found by police four hours after being raped. The woman was a detainee at Australia’s offshore detention centre on Nauru. (TW: The video in the link is very distressing to watch). A second woman at the centre has since…
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Counting Dead Women register reaches 38 women The number of Australian women killed by violence in 2015 has now reached 38, feminist social media organisation Destroy the Joint has reported. The figure is attributed to reports of a 68-year-old woman who died of a neck wound at her home, which police are treating as suspicious….
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Pregnant asylum seekers have difficulty accessing medical assistance on Nauru, Senate inquiry told Pregnant asylum seekers detained on Nauru are unable to walk long distances across the island to gain medical treatment, a Senate Inquiry into the Nauru processing centre’s conditions and circumstances has been told. Non-governmental organisation, Save the Children brought forth the…
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The Australian Human Rights Commission (HRC) report, entitled The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention (2014), was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday 11 February. The report investigates the mental, emotional, and physical ramifications of mandatory detention, particularly on children. Reading this report, I was nothing short of horrified. The HRC’s investigation provides…
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The ABC has released a report stating that a pregnant Rohingyan refugee couple decided on an abortion rather than have their child face the conditions at the Nauru detention facility. Mamun and Silima Motiur arrived on Christmas Island in early December, and were quickly transferred to Nauru. A damning report issued by the United Nations…
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Another day, another story about asylum seekers that are not receiving humane treatment in Australian offshore detention centres. If you haven’t already heard the latest – here’s a round up: On Monday, 17th February, a riot broke out on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island detention centre, which has resulted in 62 injured asylum seekers and…
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Thirty-five asylum seekers escaped from Manus Island detention centre on Sunday, after a violent clash with security forces. Following a meeting on Sunday evening, asylum seekers attempted to shatter windows and created weapons out of their beds and fencing, before fleeing the compound. The asylum seekers had been told by immigration officials that if they…
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Information regarding female asylum seekers’ conditions in Australian detention centres has recently come to public knowledge. In some of these centres, the women are forced to approach SERCO officers to ask for tampons or pads during their menstruation cycles, only to be given one or two at a time. Living in Australia and seeing Australian…
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The Abbott government has possibly sent its first unaccompanied asylum seeking minor directly to Nauru under its new offshore processing policy. The girl, believed to be between 15 and 16 years old arrived at the island’s detention centre yesterday the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre reported. The ethnicity of the girl is yet to be identified…
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Image via Takver, Flickr Amongst the rife and wrangle preceding the Federal election in less than two weeks, the topic of refugees, ‘boat people’ and even ‘plane people’ has never received so much public attention since the Tampa incident in the harrowing Howard era. Former arbitrary water-cooler conversations at the office are being transformed into…
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With his announcement of Labor’s new refugee policy, PM Kevin Rudd has ensured that instead of doing away with ‘old politics’, his party continues to insist on fighting the coalition on its own turf. For the last decade, at least, the ALP has allowed the Liberal-Nationals to dominate the political discourse, dictate the agenda,…
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New figures suggest that the proportion of families travelling to Australia by boat to seek asylum is increasing. The news comes as the federal government seeks to alleviate pressure on the overcrowded detention system by granting bridging visas to families. According to The Australian, approximately 40% of new asylum seekers are now coming as part…
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