UNSW Kaldor Centre UNSW Kaldor Centre

NZYQ v Minister for Immigration (NZYQ) changed the landscape for immigration detainees in Australia. It led to the release of at least 149 people from indefinite immigration detention where there was no real prospect of removing them from Australia in the 'reasonably foreseeable future’. It also led to the rapid passage of new legislative provisions that could be used to restrict the freedom of those released. Under this legislation, the Commonwealth can seek Community Safety Orders if those released are considered to pose an ‘unacceptable risk of seriously harming the community by committing a serious violent or sexual offence’, allowing re-detention or the imposition of other restrictive conditions.

Continuing detention orders have been accepted by the High Court of Australia as valid for people convicted of serious violent, sex or terrorism crimes in Australia. Community Safety Orders, however, differ from continuing detention orders in important ways, and they have not yet been tested in Australian courts.

This fully subscribed event was held on 3 April 2024, and sought to examine Community Safety Orders in detail, explaining what they are and what you should do if the Commonwealth seeks to issue one to your client. It also sought to examine the broader ramifications of NZYQ, including the conditions that people are being released under.

Speakers included:

Scientia Professor George Williams, UNSW Law, leading Australian constitutional scholar, who can advise on the possible constitutional ramifications of NZYQ and follow up cases.

Paul Coady, NSW Public Defender, who has ample experience responding to continuing detention orders under state and territory legislation and can provide insight into how the existing system operates.

Sanmati Verma, Acting Legal Director at the Human Rights Law Centre, who represents a number of clients in immigration detention and, along with the Kaldor Centre, intervened as amicus curiae in NZYQ v the Minister for Immigration. Sanmati will explain how NZYQ has impacted on immigration detainees since it was determined and what the future might hold for them.

Chair: Anna Talbot, Affiliate and Strategic Litigation Network Coordinator, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law

As the number of displaced people around the world continues to increase, the gap between the needs and availability of durable solutions grows wider. Resettlement plays an important role in providing solutions, and there is an increasing recognition of the potential role of complementary pathways, which can provide access to safety through other migration channels. These include labour mobility, education pathways, and community sponsorship programs. What is the current state of play in resettlement and complementary pathways? What potential do they hold to provide solutions to a greater number of displaced people?

On 27 February 2024, a panel of international experts provided an update on current developments from around the world, in an event jointly hosted by the Refugee Council of Australia and the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law.

This year, Australia was the chair of the Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways (CRCP), the most important multilateral forum for UNHCR, States, NGOs, private sector representatives, academics and refugees to discuss resettlement and complementary pathways. International delegates gathered in Sydney as part of these consultations, and this free public event provided an opportunity to hear from some of these global experts.

Moderated by:

Basma Alawee, Deputy Executive Director of the Community Sponsorship Hub, USA

Speakers included:

Jackie Keegan, Head of Resettlement and Complementary Pathways Service, UNHCR

Colm O'Gorman, Global Director, Community Engagement, Pathways International

Mohammad Naeem, Deputy Director, Strategy and Partnerships, American Immigration Council and a member of the CRCP Refugee Advisory Group

As Shuja Jamal walked to the Presidential Palace in Kabul for work at 8.30am on 15 August 2021, ‘it was clear that this is unlike any other day … something in the air in the city ... You can actually feel it.’ Shuja is the former director-general for international relations for Afghanistan’s National Security Council, and his new book is 'The Decline and Fall of Republican Afghanistan', co-authored with William Maley. He takes us back to the day the Taliban took over.

Ahmad Shuja Jamal speaks with the Kaldor Centre's Lauren Martin.

Rejoignez des chercheurs de premier plan sur la mobilité climatique en Afrique alors qu’ils discutent du lancement de la nouvelle série de publications Climate Mobility Africa Insights. Développé et publié par le Climate Mobility Africa Research Network (CMARN), avec le généreux soutien de la Robert Bosch Stiftung et du Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, Insights vise à faire progresser les réponses juridiques et politiques fondées sur des données probantes à la mobilité climatique en Afrique. Rejoignez des chercheurs de domaines tels que la réduction des risques de catastrophe, la transhumance, la violence sexuelle et fondée sur le genre et les droits de la personne, alors qu’ils partagent leurs points de vue sur les défis actuels et les options futures en matière de lois et de politiques.

Les notes d’orientation et les fiches d’information d’Insights constituent une ressource incontournable pour les gouvernements africains, les décideurs et les autres chercheurs travaillant sur la mobilité climatique en Afrique. La série Insights offre également une formation et un soutien éditorial aux auteurs qui souhaitent publier leurs recherches, faisant progresser la diversité et la représentation dans le dialogue politique sur la mobilité climatique en Afrique et au-delà. https://www.cmarnetwork.com/insightsfr

Intervenants:

- Dr Rose Auma est maître de conférences à l’Université des sciences et technologies Masinde Muliro (MMUST), Kenya, et administratrice du Réseau de recherche sur la mobilité climatique en Afrique (CMARN)

- Dr Cheikh Tidiane Wade est géographe à l’Université Assane Seck, Sénégal

- Christina Daskiewicz est chargée de projet à la Division de la migration, de l’environnement, du changement climatique et de la réduction des risques de l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM)

Join leading researchers on climate mobility in Africa as they discuss they launch of the new Climate Mobility Africa Insights publication series. Developed and published by the Climate Mobility Africa Research Network (CMARN), with the generous support of Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, Insights aims to advance evidence-based law and policy responses to climate mobility in Africa. Join researchers from fields such as disaster risk reduction, transhumance, sexual and gender-based violence and human rights, as they share insights into current challenges and future law and policy options.

Insights policy briefs and fact sheets provide a ‘go to’ resource for African governments, policy makers and other researchers working to address climate mobility in Africa. The Insights series also provides training and editorial support to authors who wish to publish their research, advancing diversity and representation within policy dialogue regarding climate mobility in Africa and beyond. https://www.cmarnetwork.com/insightsen

Speakers:
• Professor Ademola Oluborode Jegede is a Professor of Law at the School of Law, University of Venda, South Africa
• Dr Nicodemus Nyandiko is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Disaster Management and Sustainable Development at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST), Kenya
• Dr Oluwatoyin Adejonwo is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos and a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria

In June 2023, as the last refugee in Nauru was flown back to Australia, the United Kingdom's attempts to introduce an Australian-style offshore processing policy were dealt a blow in the UK courts. The UK had tried to transfer asylum seekers to Rwanda to have their claims for protection processed there. The British policy reflects that which Australia has operated since 2012, sending people who came by boat seeking safety to Nauru and Papua New Guinea to have their asylum claims processed. But on the 29th of June this year, the England and Wales Court of Appeal ruled that Rwanda was not a safe third country, effectively ending for now, the Government's offshore processing plans.

To explain this policy and help us understand the implications of the recent court judgment, Kaldor Centre Senior Research Fellow Madeline Gleeson speaks with Dr. Natalie Hodgson, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Nottingham, and head of the Forced Migration Unit in the university's Human Rights Law Centre.