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The Biennale Boycott Blues
by Sarah Joseph The Sydney Biennale starts today after weeks of controversy over the severing of its relationship with Transfield, the company that runs the detention centre in Nauru and which will take over the one at Manus island. To recap, several artists withdrew from the Biennale in protest over its sponsorship arrangement with Transfield…
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An open letter to Prime Minister Tony Abbott
On 2 March, over 500 academics from more than 30 Australian universities (including Castan Centre Directors and Associates) signed a letter to the Prime Minister calling for the immediate closure of the detention centres on Manus Island and in Nauru. Academics can still add their names at this link. We have reprinted the full text of the…
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Circumventing the system: no, not the asylum seekers, the government
By Azadeh Dastyari On 9 April 2013, 66 Sri Lankan asylum seekers sailed into Geraldton harbour in Western Australia. Their arrival was met with great alarm by politicians and the media. It had been a long time since any asylum seekers had reached the mainland, and none had ever made it so far south. The…
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Refugee tribunal a check against the culture of no
By Adam McBeth The Australian, on March 18, 2013, reported (paywall) on Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) figures that showed a remarkable 74 per cent success rate in the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) since July 2012 among people who arrived by boat. That figure is inflated somewhat by omitting cases that were withdrawn before a hearing…
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From state security to human security: frameworks for refugee protection
By Nathan Van Wees, Castan Centre In-House Intern With the human rights of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia being increasingly undermined, the need to find a more stable and humane response has never been more urgent. On Wednesday night at the Monash Law Chambers, the Castan Centre hosted Ms. Alex Pagliaro, the Refugee Campaigns…
Castan Centre for Human Rights Law 