The door opens for Aladdin Sisalem
Andra Jackson; 12/5/08
Coming to Australia after 18 months held in the Manus Island detention centre — 10 of them by himself — Aladdin Sisalem felt he had finally found a new beginning.Instead, the stateless Kuwaiti-born Palestinian found that he had merely exchanged one form of living in limbo for another. He was placed on a temporary protection visa that banned him from applying for permanent protection for five years.He has spent the past four years not knowing if he would have to uproot himself and try all over again to find another country to take him at the end of next year.
Labor ‘tougher’ on asylum seekers
Andra Jackson; 12/5/08
Rejected asylum seekers are being deported in increasing numbers as the new Immigration Minister refuses last-ditch appeals at an unprecedented rate, refugee support groups claim. Refugee advocates say the minister, Senator Chris Evans, is refusing to intercede in asylum seekers’ appeals to remain in Australia on compassionate grounds at a higher rate than his Liberal predecessors. Over the past two weeks the Labor Government has deported five asylum seekers from Sydney’s Villawood detention centre, the NSW Refugee Action Collective says.
See: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/labor-tougher-on-asylum-seekers/2008/05/11/1210444243814.html