(I apologise if you hit paywalls with any of these links. Most news sites let you view at least some stories for free.)
Conflicting messages from President Trump and the White House have left both the Australian government and refugees on Manus and Nauru bewildered about the fate of Australia's refugee deal with the US. Refugee advocates have
called for the government to evacuate the camps immediately.
Close Manus and Nauru, bring refugees here say 70 organisations (GA, 3 February 2017)
Teen refugee attempts suicide on Nauru after Trump executive order (SBS, 29 January 2017)
'Although we are alive, we are dead inside': Refugees despair at on-off US resettlement deal (SMH, 2 February 2017)
Uncertainty over US deal 'torturing' refugees in Australian camps (GA, 3 February 2017)
Donald Trump refugee deal comments spark anger among Manus refugees and residents (ABC, 3 February 2017)
Manus refugees await US resettlement deal (The Saturday Paper, 4 February 2017) "After three years, those in our offshore detention camps have learnt to distrust the news. On their phones, it comes in waves. The waves are many and contradictory - bringing hope and despair; clarity and confusion. The sum is a permanent disorientation."
US could resettle zero refugees from Manus and Nauru and still 'honour' deal (GA, 31 January 2017): "Terms of agreement do not commit US to taking a single refugee, and Trump’s ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries exclude majority of Australia’s detainees."
Malcolm Turnbull should walk away from refugee deal (ABC, 3 February 2017) "... the road Mr Turnbull now has Australia travelling - that of the supplicant - is against our national interest."
President Trump's executive order temporarily suspending the intake of refugees and indefinitely prohibiting entry by Syrians will have terrible consequences, particularly for families who were poised to enter the US and safety. (A nation-wide
stay on the order was granted by a judge yesterday.)
Refugees are already vigorously vetted. I know because I vetted them. (Washington Post, 1 February 2017) "A former immigration officer describes the long, grueling process of gaining refugee status in the United States."
Systematic racism, dehumanisation and Islamophobia (The Saturday Paper, 4 February 2017). "Donald Trump's executive order is the active exoneration of the role that the United States has played in creating dangerous precedents in eroding the civil liberties and human rights of particular sections of society, as well as the responsibility for destabilising a whole region and creating the refugee crisis we see today. This instant memory loss will hurt some of the most vulnerable people in this world, people who have fallen victim to decades of ineffective military strategy."
The Statue of Liberty Weeps as President Trump Targets Mexicans and Muslims (Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, 25 January 2017) |
Anne Frank and her family were also denied entry as refugees to the U.S. (Washington Post, 24 November 2015)