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Tag Archives: detention debt

Debates on refugees – then and now

September 8, 2009 – 9:47 am

In December last year, a report from the federal Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Migration unanimously recommended that “as a priority, the Australian Government introduce legislation to repeal the liability of immigration detention costs.”   That is, the law which raises a debt against people in immigration detention to cover the cost of their detention.  Legislation [...]

By Andrew Bartlett | Posted in Senate, immigration, refugees | Also tagged , , | Comments (3)

Charging people for locking them up

May 25, 2009 – 12:52 pm

It looks like another case of proper policy losing out to the politics of perception and positioning is unfolding, with the Coalition set to oppose legislation that will scrap the iniquitous, inefficient and counter-productive system of charging people for the cost of putting them in immigration detention.
The injustices of this system have been raised in [...]

By Andrew Bartlett | Posted in Australian politics, human rights, immigration | Also tagged , | Comments (7)

Some good news! Migration Minister responds positively to public and parliamentary concerns

March 18, 2009 – 12:53 pm

Regular readers of Crikey (and this blog) might recall some stories back in September last year detailing just one example of the gross injustice (and utter absurdity) of Australia’s policy to charge people locked up in immigration detention for the cost of their imprisonment.
This practice has been widely criticised for many years, including in the  [...]

By Andrew Bartlett | Posted in immigration, refugees | Also tagged , | Comments (4)