Posts by Issue

Refugees, Police Accountability, Incarceration and Detention, Indigenous Rights

What the Law Saw: Repertoires of Violence and Regimes of Impunity
Posted by Joseph Pugliese on 12/30/2016 - 13:19

This essay, by Suvendrini Perera and Joseph Pugliese, is an immediate response to two recent events, the release of the findings into the death in custody of Ms Dhu in the week before Christmas 2016, and the death in custody of Manus Island refugee, Faysal Ishak Ahmed, on Christmas Eve. As in the case of other deaths in the custody of the state, these were not sudden and unforeseeable events, but the outcome of a range of violent practices—denial, delay, accusations of malingering, verbal and physical abuse, misdiagnosis, non-diagnosis, active neglect—by the state and its agents,... Read More

Posted by Siyuan Li on 08/17/2016 - 22:25

 

 A widely criticized refugee detention camp in Australia is going to be shut down. Australia has a very strict rule of refugee policy: even refugees that are qualified for asylum will never be allowed to settle in the country. Instead, arriving refugees or migrants will be sent to detention centers with extreme bad conditions and both physical and psychological torture. Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says his country plans to relocate the detained asylum-seekers elsewhere in Papua New Guinea or else send them back to their countries of origin, the AP reports. Dutton... Read More

Venezuela re-opens borders amid economic crisis
Posted by Luis Perez on 08/16/2016 - 21:49

The Venezulan president has reopened the borders between Venezuela and Colombia, to supplement the needs of its citizens who can no longer buy food and clothing because of the recent economic crisis. The border was closed prior to this because of several cases of smugling a variety of items such as drugs and weapons,and although some have been crossing the border through illegal means, such as going under the radar and bribery, the president felt that opening the border would help a lot more people. The people traveled as far as hundreds of miles in order to cross the border, just to buy... Read More

Nauru: Australia's asylum seeker prison
Posted by ejbentley on 08/12/2016 - 19:52

“Assaults, sexual abuse, self-harm, inhuman conditions – over 2,000 newly leaked reports paint a sordid picture of Australia’s offshore refugee detention operations on the Pacific island of Nauru.” By forcibly transferring refugees and people seeking asylum to Nauru, detaining them for prolonged periods in inhuman conditions, denying them appropriate medical care, and in other ways structuring its operations so that many experience a serious degradation of their mental health, the Australian government has violated the rights to be free from torture and other ill-treatment, and from... Read More

Aung San Suu Kyi Takes First Steps in Combatting the Persecution of the Rohingya People
Posted by Shruti Venkatraman on 08/10/2016 - 20:24

21st July 2016

Aung San Suu Kyi has finally taken the first steps to address the oppression of the Rohingya people, Myanmar's Muslim minority community, often referred to as the "most persecuted minority in the world". Their persecution is widely considered to be bordering genocide. She has set up a task force for combatting religious violence and has made legal threats against Buddhist terrorist organization Ma Ba Tha. She previously expressed fears that the use of the term "Rohingya" make incite further divides and violence. Whilst small, these steps at least indicate that the... Read More

South Sudanese Refugees Flee to Uganda
Posted by Shruti Venkatraman on 08/10/2016 - 20:13

26th July 2016

The volatile security situation in South Sudan has resulted in approximately 37,000 refugees fleeing to Uganda, with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) voicing serious concerns regarding violence. UNHCR is taking an active role to support Uganda as refugee centers struggle to cope with the influx due to limited capacity. They are currently attempting to orgnanize new settlement areas as quickly as possible and to acquire more funding to support their initiatives. 

Refugee Olympic Team makes history at Rio Games
Posted by Siyuan Li on 08/06/2016 - 15:14

During the Opening Ceremony of the Rio2016 Olympics, Rose Nathike Lokonyen, a 23-year-old South Sudanese runner, led the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team into the stadium behind the banner of the International Olympic Committee.

  This is the first time that refugees participate in Olympic Games. It not only shows the spirit of Olympic Games—unity and diversity, but also proves that being refugees doesn't mean you are not a human being. They, as a unity, set us a great example of peaceful coexistence in the whole world. More importantly, it is a huge step of human rights. With the... Read More

Posted by Hannah on 08/04/2016 - 16:31

“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”

- Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche 

 

I had the privelege to reconcile the opportunities to attend Professor Palumbo-Liu's Human Rights Class and to visit Greece in order to assist a refugee relief organization this summer.

To experience human rights on paper - that is, to hear about it in a literature-oriented classroom setting - and to see it in person are two very different things. I... Read More

Australia's Treatment of Asylum Seekers
Posted by Isabella on 08/03/2016 - 12:19

In the last week, Australia has been condemned by various international non-governmental organizations for its treatment of asylum seekers in off-shore detention centers. In 2014, Australia implemented a defence policy that aimed to stop illegal boats of asylum seekers from arriving on-shore. This policy involved establishing processing centers on nearby island countries and territories, including Nauru and Christmas Island. In these detention centers, asylum seekers wait for processing into Australia in horrendous and unlivable conditions.

Currently, the... Read More

Pope Brings 12 Syrian Refugees to Rome
Posted by Emma Elizabeth Kelsey on 04/18/2016 - 15:24

After a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, where Pope Francis met with refugees at the Moria detention facility, the Pope brought twelve refugees back to Rome. The three families, who were selected through a lottery, will be relocated in the Vatican city. The Pope has said that European countries must implement policies to assist migrants, stating that they have a "responsibility of welcome."

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