Fair Procedures for Refugee Status Determinations. Australia, and other Western countries are experiencing an upsurge in the number of persons seeking refugee status. This project will answer the call of a recent Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee for an urgent independent review to determine which procedures will best achieve accurate outcomes for refugee (asylum) applicants. The study will compare procedures and standards in Australia, Canada, the UK, USA, Germany and France a ....Fair Procedures for Refugee Status Determinations. Australia, and other Western countries are experiencing an upsurge in the number of persons seeking refugee status. This project will answer the call of a recent Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee for an urgent independent review to determine which procedures will best achieve accurate outcomes for refugee (asylum) applicants. The study will compare procedures and standards in Australia, Canada, the UK, USA, Germany and France and propose acceptable benchmarks and standards for cost effective and socially cohesive procedures within Australia and internationally. As a result of this research Australia is anticipated to play a leading role in the implementation of global solutions to this issue.Read moreRead less
Seeking Asylum Alone: The Treatment of Separated and Trafficked Children in Need of Refugee Protection in Australia. Forced migration is a critical human rights issue. Although increasing in number, children traveling on their own to seek protection abroad have received scant scholarly attention. No systematic research exists on the efficacy of asylum as a mechanism for protecting separated children smuggled or trafficked into Australia. Claims and experiences of such children will be catalog ....Seeking Asylum Alone: The Treatment of Separated and Trafficked Children in Need of Refugee Protection in Australia. Forced migration is a critical human rights issue. Although increasing in number, children traveling on their own to seek protection abroad have received scant scholarly attention. No systematic research exists on the efficacy of asylum as a mechanism for protecting separated children smuggled or trafficked into Australia. Claims and experiences of such children will be catalogued and studied to determine the extent and nature of the disadvantage they face within Australia's refugee system. The findings will contribute to an international project aimed articulating best practice guidelines for the legal treatment of separated children in refugee determination systems around the world.Read moreRead less
Fearing going home: Australia's return of rejected asylum seekers, temporary refugees and others from refugee-like situations. Recent changes in government policy, combined with international political developments, mean that increasing numbers of asylum seekers and temporary refugees are being deemed ineligible for protection and removed from Australia or from Australian-run facilities. Notwithstanding the government's assessment that such people do not have protection needs, many live in acute ....Fearing going home: Australia's return of rejected asylum seekers, temporary refugees and others from refugee-like situations. Recent changes in government policy, combined with international political developments, mean that increasing numbers of asylum seekers and temporary refugees are being deemed ineligible for protection and removed from Australia or from Australian-run facilities. Notwithstanding the government's assessment that such people do not have protection needs, many live in acute fear of their pending return. They may indeed be returned to situations of danger, deprivation and desperate poverty. This project aims to research and document the plight of 'returnees' as they face the prospect of repatriation and then, to the extent possible, after they have been repatriated.Read moreRead less