Former federal police commissioner Mick Palmer, who headed the inquiry into 201 cases of wrongful detention and deportation, has called for the urgent reform of the Immigration Department to allegedly rid it of “systemic cultural and administrative flaws." According to Palmer, the department’s compliance officers lacked relevant formal training and appeared to have a poor understanding of the laws that they have been tasked to enforce while the government’s contract with the private contractor running the detention centers was deemed “fundamentally flawed." Palmer recommended the retraining of immigration officers and the creation of a national database of missing persons. Meanwhile, Prime Minister John Howard issued an apology to Cornelia Rau, a wrongfully detained Australian resident, and Vivian Alvarez Solon, an Australian citizen wrongfully deported to the Philippines.
Following the release of the 208-page Palmer report critical of the Immigration department, its former head, Bill Farmer, has quit his post. He has since been named as ambassador to Indonesia. Two other immigration officials have also been affected by the shake-up of the department -- former deputy secretary Ed Killesteyn who has been moved to the Department of Veterans Affairs and another former deputy secretary, Phillipa Goodwin, who has been transferred to the Health Insurance Commission. However, Immigration Minister, Amanda Vanstone, has retained her post.
In Brisbane, a 28-year old pregnant New Zealander facing deportation had been ordered released from jail after news broke out that the woman had been locked at the Brisbane Women’s Prison instead of an immigration detention center. The woman had previously served time in prison for armed robbery, but has been on parole since August. Meanwhile, the Queensland government, criticized in the Palmer report for its role in the Rau and Solon cases, has expressed reluctance to take in any more female irregular migrants from the Immigration Department. The state allegedly lacks facilities to keep female irregular migrants separately from women prisoners.
The country’s longest serving detainee, Peter Qasim, remains in detention at an Adelaide psychiatric institution. His release has been delayed because the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) is still conducting a background check on Qasim and has yet to issue his security clearance. Qasim, 31, claimed that he was an Indian citizen who came to Australia through Pakistan and Papua New Guinea.
According to a report published by the Australian Center for the Study of Sexual Assault (ACSSA), at least 1,000 women, mostly from Thailand and Burma, are trafficked into Australia and kept in debt-bonded prostitution at any given year. The women are often subjected to violence and are allegedly forced to perform from 500 to 1,000 sex jobs without pay, to settle their supposed debts to the trafficker. Meanwhile, the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) has summoned up to 44 people in New South Wales, including brothel and karaoke bar employees, migration agents and suspected women trafficking victims, in its investigation into trafficking for sexual slavery. The ACC found that Sydney was the most common entry point for trafficked women, mostly from Thailand, South Korea and China.
The Brisbane Supreme Court has sentenced Iraqi national Khaleed Shnayf Daoed, 37, to nine years in prison for helping organize the voyage of the ill-fated Siev-X in 2001, which killed 353 asylum seekers. Justice Phil McMurdo said evidence showed that profit was Daoed’s primary, if not the only intention, for organizing the risky trip.
Refugee Council of Australia executive director Margaret Piper dispelled the Prime Minister’s claim that his policies had stopped the influx of boat people into Australia. According to Piper, the boats stopped coming because of a worldwide trend that prevented people from leaving their own shores. This means that the country may again experience boat arrivals at some point in the future. Piper added that creating more barriers around Australia was not the responsible solution to the problem. The council urged the government to increase its refugee intake by 1,000 to 14,000, add 3,000 more to its quota for humanitarian emergency, and at least 1,050 slots for women at risk.
Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone has announced that 12 senior Immigration Department staff would be seconded to 18 industry groups to assist them in bringing in foreign migrant workers. Among those groups that will receive the taxpayer-funded assistance are farming, housing and construction, mining and exploration, motoring, engineering and manufacturing industries. Vanstone has earlier announced that Australia would increase its skilled migrant intake by 20,000 to 97,500 in 2005-2006.
Swinburne academic Katharine Betts noted a declining opposition to immigration in Australia due to a stronger economy and restrictions in the migrants’ access to welfare. A recent poll has found that 30 percent of the population believed Australia took in an excessive number of migrants last year, compared to 67 percent in 1993 just after the country experienced recession in the early 1990s.
Sources: Malcolm Brown, “Sex slaves case told of ‘eyes wide shut’ women," The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 July 2005; Penelope Debelle, “Qasim’s release delayed," The Age, 1 July 2005; Larry Schwartz, “Howard’s boat people claim ‘rubbished’," The Age, 2 July 2005; AAP, “Queensland female immigrants can look elsewhere," The Age, 5 July 2005; AAP, “Businesses given help to employ migrants," The Age, 6 July 2005; AAP, “Trafficked women ‘being raped, starved’," The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 July 2005; “Paper shows sex slaves in Oz," The Australian, 6 July 2005; Jewel Topsfield, “Detention center audit criticizes department," The Age, 8 July 2005; Natalie O’Brien, “Sex trafficking under the microscope," The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 July 2005; Josh Gordon, “Less unease on migrants," The Age, 11 July 2005; AFP, “Australian PM defends appointment," Taipei Times, 11 July 2005; DPA, “Immigration head resigns amid scandal," Taipei Times, 11 July 2005; Reuters, “Australian immigration chief quits," Gulf News, 11 July 2005; Reuters, “Australian immigration head replaced after bungles," 11 July 2005; Greg Ansley, “Pregnant Kiwi out of jail as Australian immigration row boils," The New Zealand Herald, 15 July 2005; Cath Hart and Michael McKinnon, “People smuggler jailed for 9 years," The Australian, 15 July 2005; Joseph Kerr, “The women Australia abandoned force the PM to say sorry," The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 July 2005; Samantha Maiden, “Immigration hit with shake-up," The Australian, 15 July 2005; Mike Seccombe, “Alvarez case shows failure after failure," The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 July 2005; AP, “Australian leader says sorry to Vivian Alvarez," The Manila Times, 15 July 2005; “Detention flaws ‘won’t change’," The Australian, 15 July 2005