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Australia’s bid for the UN Human Rights Council
By Sarah Joseph Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has announced that Australia is running for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council for the period of 2018 to 2020. The bid was originally made by the previous government, and has now been officially endorsed by this one. What is the Human Rights Council? The UN Human…
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Preventing asylum seekers’ return to harm through the High Court
By Maria O’Sullivan Later today, the High Court is due to hear a challenge to the screening and transfer of a boatload of Sri Lankan asylum seekers back to Sri Lankan authorities. Under international law, return of persons to their country of origin without properly ascertaining if they are refugees is clearly in breach of…
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Handing over Tamils to the state they fled breaks international law
by Azadeh Dastyari Australia appears to have reached a new all-time low in its violation of international obligations and its treatment of vulnerable people seeking Australia’s protection. If widespread media reports are true, Australia is preparing to hand over to the Sri Lankan Navy a group of Tamil asylum seekers who fled Sri Lanka. The group reportedly includes 37…
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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…
Castan Centre for Human Rights Law 