Manus Asylum Seekers Say Australia Has Stepped Up Pressure on Them to Return
Asylum seekers detained at an Australian-run camp on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island told Reuters that Australian officials have stepped up pressure on them to return home.
Bangladeshi and Nepalese detainees whose asylum claims have been rejected said Australian officials offered them up to $25,000 to go back to their countries voluntarily, or be deported.
Reuters reported that the cash incentive has more than doubled in the past year, and asylum seekers were offered more money if they could persuade others to leave also. Officials have also stepped up deportations from Manus, the news agency said.
“The increased focus by the Australian and PNG governments on deporting people with negative protection assessments is deeply troubling,” lawyer Sanmati Verma, whose firm Clothier Anderson Immigration Lawyers represents several people on Manus, told Reuters. “All of the circumstances indicate that those people have never had their claims for protection fairly, legally or impartially assessed.”
Papua New Guinea ruled the Australian detention center on its territory unconstitutional last year and ordered it closed. Australia reached a deal with the U.S. to accept refugees from Manus and its other offshore camp on the Pacific Island of Nauru, but Donald Trump’s election has cast doubt over the deal.
Migrant Deaths, Arrivals Grow on Mediterranean Route to Italy
There have been fewer overall migrant deaths and voyages in the Mediterranean Sea so far this year compared to the same period in 2016, but the passage to Italy has become busier and more deadly.
Some 11,169 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea between January 1, 2017 and February 8, compared to 76,395 during the same period in 2016, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). At least 258 people died en route, compared to 416 during the same period in 2016, IOM said.
The decrease is due to the steep decline in voyages from Turkey to Greece. However, the route from North Africa to Italy saw crossings and deaths increase substantially.
Some 9,355 people took boats to Italy this year up to February 8, compared to 6,030 arrivals last year. At least 231 people died en route, compared to 90 people in the first weeks of 2016.
Lebanon Lifts Residency Fee for Some Refugees
Human Rights Watch welcomed Lebanon’s decision to waive refugees’ residency fees, saying it would give more people access to legal status in the country but warning that the waiver excluded large parts of the refugee population.
Lebanon’s General Security agency said last week it was lifting the $200 annual residency fee for Syrian refugees who registered with the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) before 2015 or who previously obtained residency through a UNHCR certificate.
Since Lebanon introduced new residency regulations in 2015, many Syrian refugees have been unable to get legal status in the country, leaving them vulnerable to poverty and abuse.
Human Rights Watch said lifting the residency fee could have a “real and positive impact” for many Syrian families, but warned the new policy excludes approximately 500,000 Syrians not registered with UNHCR, as well as several other categories of refugees.
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