Do you want to add your energies to pressuring the Australian government on the issue of refugee rights?

(image: Refugees and supporters outside the Park Hotel, Carlton, 2022) 

The Centre for a Compassionate Society has advocated, over many years, for the human rights of refugees and asylum seekers who sought Australia’s protection. We have particularly focused our efforts on those affected by Operation Sovereign Borders. We initiated the Freedom Cage project, helping to bring media attention to the plight of dozens of those refugees who were incarcerated in the Park Hotel for years. We organise a weekly letter writing campaign to advocate for the humane treatment of refugees. 

Weekly letter writing in support of refugees 

Every week we provide you with fresh text for a letter to our politicians, calling for more humane treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, onshore and offshore. You can edit or just use that text, and send it on to relevant MPs and Senators, so it’s a quick and easy way for you to add your voice to the group effort. Individual letter writing is known to have more impact on politician’s thinking than petitions. It’s also a great way to stay informed about refugee issues.

·      join our weekly letter-writing campaign – send us an email

You can also:

·      send a one-off letter to your local member – find latest information on the plight of refugees here

·      visit your local Federal member of parliament – find parliamentarians here.

Background

Since it was elected in 2022, the Albanese government has made some positive changes, granting permanent visas to thousands who lived in the Australian community for over a decade. However, there are still come cohorts that suffer under unnecessarily harsh policies. 

Who are the refugees we advocate for?

1. The ‘Medevac’ group

Since 2013 refugees and asylum seekers were held in offshore detention on Nauru and in PNG, under Australia’s infamous Operation Sovereign Borders. Some were ‘Medevaced’ to Australia, but were then imprisoned in hotels and onshore detention centres. By 2022 most were released into the Australian community. Officially designated ‘transitory persons’, the refugees live amongst us mostly on bridging visas which give them work rights, but deny them the safety net of Centrelink Benefits and reliable access to Medicare. The Labor government’s position remains that they will never be allowed to settle in Australia, and so they must apply to a third country for resettlement. Some have gone to the USA, Canada and New Zealand; but others languish with no active application, often because they are too unwell or distressed about the prospect of yet another upheaval when they have begun to make connections, and build a life, in Australia. Some have waited years since their interview with a third country, only to see their application rejected. The Australian government has washed its hands of dozens who remain on PNG. Meanwhile all these people, mostly young men, have lost a formative decade, and continue to mourn the squandering of their lives.

2. The NZYQ cohort

These are non-citizens, mostly refugees or asylum seekers, who were sent to immigration detention after serving their sentence for a crime or even without ever having been convicted or a crime. They were released into the community when the High Court ruled in November 2023 that it was against the constitution for them to be detained indefinitely, since there was no prospect of deporting them to their country of origin or a third country. The Labor government responded to the storm of outrage that the opposition and media whipped up by imposing draconian security measures on the former detainees (ankle bracelets, curfews) which were also deemed unconstitutional by a High Court decision in 2026. The Albanese government has stitched up a deal with the government of Nauru, to deport these people to Nauru. While this people are allegedly too dangerous to be in the Australian community, it is apparently fine for them to live on the tiny island of Nauru with little to no support or rehabilitation. 

3. Those offshore under Operation Sovereign Borders

There are still a small number of refugees in PNG, awaiting settlement in a third country or required to settle in PNG. Having mandated their prolonged incarceration on PNG, Australia has effectively washed its hands of them. Some are profoundly unwell, having experienced the compounding effects of the trauma of displacement, of incarceration and of powerlessness. New boat arrivals are now processed on Nauru, and there is huge secrecy around numbers, their situations, and the conditions they are subjected to on Nauru. er Albanese made the most of a photo opportunity with them. His government has granted pathways to permanent residency for about 18,000 people who arrived in Australia before Operation Sovereign Borders came into force, and who had been living for a decade in the community on TPVs (Temporary Protection Visas) and SHEVs (Safe Haven Enterprise Visas). But they have remained intransigent on the issue of those affected by Operation Sovereign Borders, cruelly insisting – after all that Australia has inflicted on them – that they are not welcome to make a home here.