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This blog has been set up to further the cause of compassion for Asylum Seekers. We will post letters that have been sent to politicians, building up the pressure to provide compassionate support to all refugees in Australia and anywhere where people have been sent by the Australian Government. Send your letter and any reply to our email address and we will post it on the site. Any other information of use will also be posted. For Facebook page click on "contact us" tab below.
Click on subject of interest shown on the right under the heading "labels" to see all relevant posts
To look at letters (and some replies) sent to politicians and newspapers, scroll down the index on the right hand side and select the appropriate heading.
Note the blog allows multiple labelling and all letters to politicians are under "letters to pollies".
If you scroll down and cannot go further, look out for icon "Older Posts". Click on that to continue
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On
December 2, after more than 12 months of legal battles with Home
Affairs, the High Court of Australia has ruled that 50 people seeking
asylum can take legal action against the government.
This is a defeat
for the minister, Peter Dutton. The refugees can now have their cases
heard much faster than he would like, and they will try to bring the
government to account for the enormous harm caused by its negligence and
lack of duty of care.
The National Justice Project thanked everyone
who stood with its clients along this journey, but noted “we still have a
long way to go until we secure justice and accountability”.
The NJP
is also appealing for funds, because taking on a government with deep
pockets and no qualms about slowing down the course of justice in the
courts is costly. The costs of the expert medical and psychological
reports for the nearly 50 cases to be put to the Federal Court are
typically between $5,000 and $10,000 per report. You can donate to support the fight.
Human Rights Day
Thursday
December 10 is Human Rights Day. The RAR Human Rights Sub-committee
have made seven short videos with people of lived experience to ask
them: What does human rights mean to you?
We
plan to put these videos on the RAR Facebook page - one new video a day
for seven days. Short powerful videos to highlight Human Rights.
We ask you and your members to:
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Thank you for your correspondence of 23 November 2020 to the Acting Minister
for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs,
the Hon Alan Tudge MP. The Hon Alan Tudge MP appreciates the time you have
taken to bring this matter to his attention and has asked that I reply on his behalf.
Thank you for your letter of support for the Udawatta family.
In accordance with the Privacy Act 1988, it would be inappropriate to provide you with any further details about the status of this matter.
I can assure you that Australia takes its international obligations seriously and provides protection consistent with these obligations, as set out in the Migration Act 1958.
An assessment of whether an asylum seeker engages Australia’s protection obligations is not based on broad assumptions about the safety of particular countries. Each case is assessed on its merits, using the most current and relevant country of origin information.
Information regarding Ministerial Intervention can be found on the Department of Home Affairs’ website via the following links:
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/status-resolution-service/ministerial- intervention; and
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/refugee-and-humanitarian- program/onshore-protection/protection-visa-cancelled.
4 National Circuit Barton ACT 2600
PO Box 25 Belconnen ACT 2616 • Telephone: 02 6264 1111 • www.homeaffairs.gov.au
Ref No: MC20-038467
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Sent: Thursday, December 3, 2020 11:20 AM
To: M.
Subject: RE: The Udawatta family
Dear M.
Thanks for your email.
I can assure you I have made representations to the Minister regarding the Udawatta family. Unfortunately, I cannot provide you with information regarding the progress of the matter due to privacy reasons.
It was Raj’s final wish to see his family safe and supported in the community which is their home, and I will continue to do all I can to ensure this happens.
Yours sincerely,
PAT CONAGHAN MP
Federal Member for CowperFrom: M...
Sent: Wednesday, 25 November 2020
To: Conaghan, Pat (MP) <Pat.Conaghan.MP@aph.gov.au>
Subject: The Udawatta family
Dear Mr Conaghan,
I recently watched the 7.30 Report news item about the plight of the Udawatta family, and listened the following morning to your interview with Hamish McDonald. I felt greatly encouraged by your expression of support and compassion for Florence Udawatta and her children.
As you stated in the interview, it should not be necessary for the family to wait eighteen months or more for a decision by the Acting Minister for Immigration regarding the appeal against the decision to not grant them a Protection Visa. In any event, as you will know as a former immigration lawyer, their chances of being granted a Protection Visa, given the circumstances of their arrival in Australia, are virtually zero. The Acting Minister, as you stated, has the power under the Immigration Act to grant the family a permanent visa on compassionate grounds. I was very pleased to note that you have stated that there is no case for sending them back to Sri Lanka, and that the Minister should allow them to stay. They are a much-loved and highly respected family in the local Kempsey community.
I trust that you have made formal representations to the Acting Minister and that you have sought an early decision in this very sad case.
I would be grateful if you could update me at some point on the progress with your representations to Alan Tudge. It would be wonderful if the family could have some certainty very soon about their future, given all that they have had to endure during Raj Adawatta’s illness and subsequent death in September.
Yours sincerely,
M.
Valla Beach NSW 2448![]() |
Dear Acting Minister Tudge,
I understand that you have been contacted by my Federal MP, Pat Conaghan, in relation to the Udawatta family, who live in Kempsey. You will be aware that Mr Raj Udawatta, who came to Australia in 2014 on a 475 Visa, died from bowel cancer in September, leaving behind a wife and four children. By all accounts, the family is highly regarded in the community, three of the four children attend local schools and the eldest daughter now has a student visa.
Florence Udawatta's application for a protection visa for herself and her children has been rejected, which is understandable, given the circumstances of their arrival in Australia. It seems to me that her appeal, which might drag on for up to two years, will also fail.
The family clearly need an urgent remedy to their plight, so that they can start to rebuild their lives following the death of a much-loved husband and father. I would urge you therefore to intervene in this situation and to use the powers that you have under the Immigration Act which allow you to deal with compassionate and compelling cases such as this.
Please intervene now, and give this family a Christmas present to remember. The local Kempsey community is looking to you to show some compassion .
I would be grateful for an early response to my request.
Yours sincerely.
Mike G
Valla Beach, NSW 2448
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The Udawatta family made a life in New South Wales.(Supplied: Florence Udawatta) |
To: 'Pat.Conaghan.MP@aph.gov.au'
Subject: The Udawatta family
Dear Mr Conaghan,
I recently watched the 7.30 Report news item about the plight of the Udawatta family, and listened the following morning to your interview with Hamish McDonald. I felt greatly encouraged by your expression of support and compassion for Florence Udawatta and her children.
As you stated in the interview, it should not be necessary for the family to wait eighteen months or more for a decision by the Acting Minister for Immigration regarding the appeal against the decision to not grant them a Protection Visa. In any event, as you will know as a former immigration lawyer, their chances of being granted a Protection Visa, given the circumstances of their arrival in Australia, are virtually zero. The Acting Minister, as you stated, has the power under the Immigration Act to grant the family a permanent visa on compassionate grounds. I was very pleased to note that you have stated that there is no case for sending them back to Sri Lanka, and that the Minister should allow them to stay. They are a much-loved and highly respected family in the local Kempsey community.
I trust that you have made formal representations to the Acting Minister and that you have sought an early decision in this very sad case.
I would be grateful if you could update me at some point on the progress with your representations to Alan Tudge. It would be wonderful if the family could have some certainty very soon about their future, given all that they have had to endure during Raj Adawatta’s illness and subsequent death in September.
Yours sincerely,
Mike G
Valla Beach NSW 2448