DIMA Annual Report 1998-99
Sub-program 3.1: Humanitarian
Performance outcomes
(iii) Priority cases
High priority during the 1998-99 year was again given to applicants from the Woman at Risk category, immediate family members of humanitarian visa holders applying under split family regulations, and – toward the end of the program year – to displaced Kosovars with family links in Australia.
During 1998-99, 367 Woman at Risk visas were issued to women in danger (543 in 1997-98). The decrease is attributable to difficulties stemming from the Balkans conflict and the health clearance difficulties in Africa.
Average processing time for Woman at Risk cases was reduced by a further five weeks, to 33 weeks. Nonetheless, processing is often protracted, 75 per cent of all cases taking up to 44 weeks to finalise. This is due in part to referral processes, which do not always identify cases early in the application process. Steps are being taken to reduce processing times further.
Emergency Rescue visas may be granted to refugees and others of humanitarian concern in urgent and compelling need of resettlement. In 1997-98, two Emergency Rescue visas were granted, in 1998-99 50 were granted. All but two were granted to Kosovars in displaced persons' camps in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to facilitate their permanent entry to Australia.
During 1998-99, 702 visas were issued under the split family regulations, almost double the 389 visas granted in 1997-98. Family members of Protection Visa holders accounted for 615.
On 22 April 1999, the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs announced that Australia would offer priority processing for permanent resettlement in Australia, under the existing Humanitarian Program, for displaced Kosovars with close family links in Australia. This was in addition to the Government's offer of temporary safe haven for 4000 displaced Kosovars.
Ninety families were identified in FYROM and Albania as meeting the criteria. At 30 June 1999, 48 refugees had been resettled in Australia, and a further 104 were awaiting medical clearance.
The DIMA office in Athens has assumed long-term processing responsibilities for Kosovar applicants, including those in Albania.
Top of PagePerformance outcomes
(iv) Responding to humanitarian crises
During the year the temporary safe haven visa class UJ, which allows a fast and positive response to requests for humanitarian entry to and temporary stay in Australia, was introduced. It has two subclasses – 448 (Kosovar Safe Haven [temporary] visa) and 449 (Humanitarian Stay [temporary] visa).
On 6 April 1999, the Government announced its decision to offer 4000 Kosovar evacuees temporary safe haven in Australia, following a global appeal by UNHCR for temporary evacuation as a result of the expulsion taking place at the time of more than 600 000 people from Kosovo, and the inability of FYROM to provide asylum to all Kosovars arriving in that country.
At UNHCR's request, the Government activated the plans to bring Kosovar evacuees to Australia on 1 May 1999.
The temporary safe haven arrangements are additional to, and do not affect, places available for resettlement under the existing Humanitarian Program.
A team of Australian immigration officials and medical personnel established a processing centre in one of the camps in FYROM.The team worked closely with UNHCR to select Kosovars on the basis that they were fit to travel and voluntarily agreed to be evacuated to Australia. Keeping family units together was a priority.
Australia's offer of temporary safe haven was accepted by 3911 Kosovars.They were issued with temporary visas that allowed them to enter and remain in Australia for an initial period of up to three months (see the Operation Safe Haven special section for more information on Australia's humanitarian response to the conflict in Kosovo).
On 1 June 1999, the second of the temporary safe haven visa subclasses, the Humanitarian Stay (temporary) visa, was introduced.
This subclass can be used anywhere in the world to grant entry and temporary stay to people displaced from their place of residence with no reasonable prospect of return, or who face a strong likelihood of being displaced, and hold grave fears for their personal safety.
Top of PagePerformance outcomes
(v) International cooperation
During 1998-99, the Department focused its efforts in three key areas:
- building partnerships with international organisations, governments in the Asia-Pacific region and other countries with resettlement programs;
- fostering capacity-building in the Asia-Pacific region through bilateral and multilateral liaison and the sharing of information and technology; and
- ensuring that issues of concern to Australia in managing the Humanitarian Program, and migration more generally, are included in international debate.
As appropriate, the Department regularly pursues these objectives through engaging international organisations and other countries in the complex range of contemporary challenges facing nations.
These challenges include people trafficking, safeguarding asylum systems and dealing with repatriation and return. Perspectives and knowledge gained through working with other countries and various organisations contribute to policy development and to effective program planning and delivery.
The Department consults closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); the Inter-Governmental Asia-Pacific Consultations on Refugees, Displaced Persons and Migrants (APC); the International Organization for Migration (IOM); the Inter-Governmental Consultations on Asylum, Refugees and Migration Policies in Europe, North America and Australia (IGC); the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and other relevant agencies.
Strong ties with UNHCR were maintained, Australian delegations attending meetings, such as the 49th Session of UNHCR Executive Committee Meeting (Excom) in Geneva in October 1998, and three Standing Committee meetings between September 1998 and June 1999.
Senior departmental officers attended several other international meetings of IGC, APC and IOM throughout the year.
The Department continued its focus on supporting regional approaches to managing irregular people movements, and refugee issues within the Asia-Pacific region, resulting in:
- attending and presenting a paper, Return of Irregular Migrants and Regional Cooperation at the IOM 'Manila Process' consultations, which focus on worldwide irregular migration, in September 1998;
- attending the 76th session of the IOM Council, the first session chaired by the new Director-General, Mr Brunson McKinley, in Geneva in November 1998;
- the Secretary leading a delegation to the Four Country Conference in San Francisco in April 1999;
- the Minister leading a delegation to an International Symposium on Migration in Bangkok in April 1999; and
- the First Assistant Secretary, Refugee and Humanitarian Division, leading a delegation to the Asia-Pacific Consultations on Refugees and Displaced Persons (APC) meeting in Kathmandu in June 1999.
At the International Symposium in Bangkok in April, Ministers and representatives of 19 countries in the Asia-Pacific region and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region signed the Bangkok Declaration on Irregular Migration, which provides a comprehensive agenda for managing irregular migration and combating people trafficking in the region.
In 1998-99 the Department provided further funding (US $48 000) to June 2000 for a coordinator's position associated with the Inter-Governmental Asia-Pacific Consultations on Refugees, Displaced Persons and Migrants and attached to the Bangkok UNHCR office. The coordinator's terms of reference are to collect and disseminate information on people movements among government agencies in the region, and to help establish cooperative methods for dealing with irregular migration in the region.
In February 1999, Ms Jenny Bedlington, First Assistant Secretary, Refugee and Humanitarian Division, was nominated as Australia's candidate for the position of Deputy Director-General of IOM, supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department.Ms Bedlington visited countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas over three months, seeking support for her as Australia's candidate. Ms Ndioro Ndiaye of Senegal was eventually elected to the position.