The current famine in southern Somalia should have come as no surprise. Aid agencies have been warning of the consequences of the worst drought to hit East Africa in thirty years. Republished from The Conversation.
The Australian Human Rights Commission today released its 2010 Christmas Island immigration detention report which recommends an end to mandatory detention and offshore processing on the islands.
Scientists in California have reported a significant increase in freshwater flow into the world’s oceans per year claiming it to be a result of more extreme and frequent storms caused by the shift in the world’s weather patterns.
A UN human rights committee has said discrimination against Aborigines is "embedded" in Australian society, criticising what it describes as the unacceptable level of social disadvantage experienced by Indigenous people in the country.
Reading back over my very first article for theangle.org it's interesting to note the changes (or lack of them) to Australia’s policies regarding treatment of asylum seekers.
On 9 April 2010, the Minister of Immigration Chris Evans announced changes to Australian immigration processing, whereby the processing of asylum applications for both Sri Lankan and Afghan asylum seekers was stopped.
Melbourne-based writer, blogger and activist Kevin Rennie originally wrote this article on an East Timor solution for refugees for an international audience as part of the European Journalism Centre's Th!nk3 blogging project. We reprint it here with his kind permission.
ADB Assistant Chief Economist Juzhong Zhuang, editor of a new book on inequality and inclusive growth in Asia, says rising growth rates in Asia have masked rising inequality, leading to two faces of Asia - one shining and the other suffering.
when you look at the statistic that refugee and humanitarian visas make up just 0.03 percent of all visas granted last year, you wonder why this issue has become so politicized and such a sticky policy issue leading into the election.
MP3 and transcript of Julia Gillard's controversial 'Moving Forward' speech at the Lowy Institute yesterday is available from the institute's website here. Stay tuned at theangle.org for more discussion of the asylum seeker policies proposed by all parties in the lead up to the next federal election.
Refugee advocates have expressed concern over Prime Minister Julia Gillard's tough new approach to asylum seekers as the country prepares for a federal election as early as August.
The findings of a key report of the effect of climate change on vulnerable has been challenged at climate change talks in Germany.
With the issue of overseas aid emerging as an election issue in Australia (as indicated in an earlier Th!nk3 post) the tabloid attacks/exposé on government expenditure and a series of electoral forums on making poverty history have begun.
Tony Abbott's unveiling of the Coalition refugee policy today, where he promises a rerun of the Howard-era "Pacific Solution" for processing of asylum seekers, has caused yet another rift with party moderates.
The Greens have described the Federal Government's decision to reopen the Howard-era Curtin detention centre as a backward step in asylum seeker policy, saying the disused WA Air Force base had been described as a "living hell hole," during its use under a previous Government.
Newly-appointed Population Minister Tony Burke says the fresh portfolio is more than a debate about immigration levels, calling on Australians to remain "calm" on the issue.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to discuss asylum seekers with his hosts as he arrives in Australia for a three-day visit.
By Rich Bowden: Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has defended her Government’s policy on asylum seekers in the face of mounting election-year attacks from the federal Opposition. Ms Gillard was speaking following Sunday’s interception of the latest boat containing 30 refugees, which had attempted to reach Australia’s shores. The boat was intercepted at Adele...
Two researchers from Western Australia's Murdoch University have combined to dispel the myths and misconceptions surrounding those seeking asylum in Australia.
By Rich Bowden: Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has signalled he will return to a hardline refugee policy accusing the Government of lacking “steel” against asylum seekers who attempt to arrive in the country on boats. Speaking to reporters in the wake of the intervening of the third Australian-bound refugee boat in the last...
By Rich Bowden: Tuvalu Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia has refused to put his name to the non-binding Copenhagen climate accord agreed at key climate discussions held in the Danish capital last week. Pacific States have described the political agreement, which would aim to restrict global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, as inadequate. Tuvalu...
By Rich Bowden: As key climate talks in Copenhagen enters its second week, Australian Government climate adviser Ross Garnaut has said relocation of Pacific climate refugees was “inevitable.” Professor Garnaut, who conducted the Australian Government’s climate review, told Radio Australia that rising sea levels in the Pacific would inevitably force relocation of many low-lying...
By Rich Bowden: On the eve of key climate talks in Copenhagen, an independent Pacific think tank has called for world leaders attending the conference to hear the region’s plight in battling rising sea levels. With the low-lying Pacific nations struggling to adapt to a changing environment brought about by climate change, the Pacific...
Well, that's the apology to the stolen generations over and done with, we now return you to your normal viewing; re-runs of the Howard Years.
The battle to gain political supremacy over the issue of asylum seekers entering Australian waters has again deteriorated.
We who hate the dehumanizing rhetoric are on course to lose the struggle for ‘hearts and minds.’
Many Pacific nations face inundation by rising sea levels blamed on warming global temperatures, a Fiji-based climate expert has said.
Those who want to calm the moral panic that has been aroused are seeking to be the voice of reason.
