New Asylum Seeker Laws - Your Questions Answered

Although ChilOut welcomes the Government's release of some children from immigration detention, it is deeply disappointed by the new laws that were passed by the Australian Parliament in December 2014. These laws significantly curtail Australia’s obligations to all asylum seekers and refugees and will have negative consequences for children.

In order to ensure its supporters have accurate information about the new laws, ChilOut has compiled answers to all of your questions:

1.     What do the new laws mean for the release of children from detention?

The newly introduced laws do not change anything contained in the Migration Act concerning the release of children from immigration detention. The laws do not force the Minister to release children. Under the Migration Act, the Minister for Immigration has always had the power to release children from detention and this power remains unchanged by the new laws.

2.     If the Minister has always had the power to release children from detention, why are we being told these new laws will mean that children are released?

The reason we are being told that children will be released is because the Minister made a verbal promise that some children would be released from detention if Parliament passed the new laws. In other words, the Minister has used children as bargaining chips to get his new laws passed. He could have released children any time since assuming office, but instead chose to use children as political tools to get the new laws passed.

3.     How many children will be released and what will happen to them once released?

In short, we do not know. The Government has made various statements about how many children will be released, including stating that no children will remain in detention by the early months of 2015. However, as at March 2015, there were still more than 200 children in immigration detention in Australia and Nauru. The Government has not provided any specific details about what will happen to children once they are released from detention. So far, some of the children who have been ‘released’ from detention have been transferred to another detention centre, transferred into community detention or allowed to live in the community on a bridging visa.

4.     What about the children in detention on Nauru, will they be released?

It has been made clear by the Government that the children in detention on Nauru are not included in the Minister’s verbal promise to release children from detention and will remain subject to the Government’s offshore processing policy. In other words, more than 100 children who are currently in detention on Nauru and more than 20 unaccompanied children who are presently living in the community on Nauru will remain there at least into the near future. The Minister has said on multiple occasions that the children on Nauru are not his or the Government’s responsibility. These children are living in dire conditions and the unaccompanied children living in the community on Nauru were the victims of violent attacks in towards the end of 2014. All of these children remain languishing on Nauru in oppressive and harmful conditions.

5.     Why does ChilOut believe the new laws will have negative consequences for children and their families?

ChilOut believes the new laws will adversely affect children and their families in three main ways. First, it will now be harder for asylum seekers to prove they meet the criteria for refugee status because the Government has introduced a stricter definition of ‘refugee’ that is tougher than the test under international law. Asylum seekers will also have limited rights to appeal decisions made against them. If asylum seekers cannot meet the criteria for refugee status, they will be deported. This will likely mean that many children and their families will be sent back to the country from which they fled persecution or to another country where they have right of entry.

Secondly, under the new laws, all those children and their families who are granted refugee status will only be issued with three-year Temporary Protection Visas (TPV) and will never be eligible for permanent protection in Australia. A small number of refugees are expected to qualify for Safe Haven Enterprise Visas and, under limited circumstances, those refugees may be able to apply for certain visas that offer more permanency. The new laws also make clear that TPV holders will not be eligible for family reunion.

Finally, children born in Australia to parents who arrived by boat are now classified as ‘unauthorised maritime arrivals.’ This means that these children and their families will not be allowed to resettle in Australia and will instead be sent offshore even though the children were born in Australia.

6.     What is so bad about Temporary Protection Visas and why is ChilOut opposed to them?

Under the new laws, those granted refugee status must apply for a TPV every three years and will never be granted a permanent protection visa in Australia. TPV holders will also be denied family reunion. This means they cannot apply to have family members, including children, brought to Australia. TPV holders are also denied permission to travel overseas to reunite with family, except at the Minister’s discretion under exceptional circumstances, such as attending the funeral of a relative.

ChilOut is opposed to TPVs because they condemn refugees to a life of uncertainty and prevent them from fully integrating into Australian society. TPV holders typically live in constant fear that they will be returned to the country from which they fled persecution. Denial of family reunion to TPV holders also keeps families apart and causes severe distress for separated family members. In the past, the denial of family reunion has also meant that more women and children have got on boats to join male family members in Australia. The combined effect of uncertainty and the lack of family reunion has been shown to have a severely detrimental impact on the mental health of refugees.

7.     What will happen to children who arrive in Australia in the future seeking protection?

The law remains unchanged concerning asylum seekers who arrive by boat in the future. Under the Government’s current law and policy, asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat are sent to either Nauru or Manus Island for processing. This includes children. In other words, children and their families who arrive by boat in future will be sent offshore for processing and will not be allowed to resettle in Australia.