DIMIA Annual Report 2004-05
Output 1.2-Refugee and humanitarian entry and stay
HIGHLIGHTS
International Cooperation
Consistent with a strong commitment to a whole-of-government agenda, the department worked to advance Australia's national interests through bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation on border control and migration management. In particular, in addition to ongoing efforts to combat people smuggling, we increased our efforts to advocate Australia's interests and influence outcomes in the areas of stronger border management to counter terrorism and trafficking in persons. We sought to achieve our objectives through efforts to promote managed people movement, reduce irregular movements and improve the system of international protection.
The department used stronger partnerships with governments in the Asia, Pacific and Middle East regions and an active program with international organisations to focus on practical outcomes, including:
- improved border management and entry control systems
- improved regional security through strengthened cooperation on border control and migration management within and between regions and agencies to counter terrorism
- greater immigration operational and intelligence capability in priority countries to target irregular movements
- revised legislative and regulatory frameworks capable of responding to contemporary issues
- greater international focus on comprehensive approaches to durable solutions to refugee and asylum seeker flows, including commitment of increased United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) resources to resettlement and more strategic use of resettlement.
The department worked with a range of agencies, such as the Australian Federal Police (AFP), AusAID, the Australian Customs Service (ACS), the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and international agencies, on activities including:
- supporting ministerial visits to priority countries, including Indonesia, to strengthen immigration cooperation, particularly through technical cooperation on border management with a focus on combating people smuggling
- signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Afghanistan to encourage the return of Afghans; provision of assistance for the reintegration of Afghan returnees; and continuing efforts to build Afghanistan's visa and passport issuing system
- continued financial support to Indonesia as a transit country for persons engaged in illegal travel to Australia. Regional cooperation arrangements facilitate an orderly and safe way for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to counsel displaced people about their options and provide practical support such as accommodation, food, emergency medical assistance and for UNHCR to assess the claims of those who signal a possible protection need
- provision of training, technical assistance and special equipment to a number of priority countries in areas such as border management, including visa and passport systems, detecting document fraud, identity checking units, professional standards and using immigration intelligence to greater effect
- supporting practical, outcomes-oriented regional workshops and seminars on people smuggling and trafficking and other key topics for operational agencies, including:
- a joint departmental, AFP and AusAID supported seminar in Thailand for immigration agency staff from 10 countries in the sub-region
- an Australian-assisted workshop hosted by Indonesia for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and East Timor on immigration intelligence and information gathering and sharing
- investment in a series of border and migration management assessments for a range of countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Fiji and Papua New Guinea (PNG)
- participation in the Government's Enhanced Cooperation Program (ECP) with PNG through key personnel secondments and technical assistance to strengthen PNG's capacity to manage its borders
- sustained commitment to important multilateral forums such as the Inter-governmental Asia-Pacific Consultations (APC) on Refugees, Displaced Persons and Migrants and the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime through the provision of financial support and substantial contributions to strategic directions and practical activities.In addition, we sponsored and actively contributed to a review of the future directions of the Pacific Immigration Directors' Conference (PIDC)
- continued leadership in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) initiatives for Advanced Passenger Information (API) processing, work to develop a Regional Movement Alert List System (RMAL), and expansion of the APEC business travel card scheme to include 17 economies
- advocacy of Australian perspectives with the Global Commission on International Migration particularly during regional consultations and the drafting of a report to the UN Secretary General (to be presented in 2005-06)
- continued senior officials' dialogue with the European Commission on a range of migration and asylum issues, including European Commission consideration of an enhanced approach to labour migration
- benchmarking and information exchange on a range of migration and asylum issues with the member states of the Inter-Governmental Consultations on Asylum, Refugee and Migration Policies (IGC), which since December 2004 includes New Zealand.
OUTPUT 1.2 REFUGEE AND HUMANITARIAN ENTRY AND STAYOverviewThe Humanitarian Program is an important element of Australia's contribution to the system of international protection of refugees. The program has two components:
In 2004-05, a total of 13 178 visas were granted under the Humanitarian Program. This number comprised 12 096 visas granted offshore and 1082 onshore. The total number of Humanitarian Program visas granted exceeded the 12 389 available places by 13 refugee grants and 776 Special Humanitarian Program (SHP) grants. These additional places were brought forward from the 2005-06 program. |
Profile
In January 2005, Aive and her sister walked off a plane to find safety in Australia. It was the end of a long and dangerous journey from their native Liberia to the Ivory Coast and then to the Laine refugee camp in Guinea where they were granted Woman At Risk visas by Australia. They are the only survivors in their family of seven.
Aive from Liberia
One day Aive heard people shooting guns around her school. The war had found her again.
"The teachers said, "go home," so I came home with my little sister Princess but no-one was there," said Aive.
As a 12-year-old surrounded by fighting she decided they must follow the people escaping to Guinea. They made their way to the Laine refugee camp in Guinea where they spent two years constantly looking for their parents.
Life was extremely difficult in the camp without a mother and father to protect them. Their home was made from mud with a tarpaulin for a roof. The sun came through making it unbearably hot and when it rained it leaked. The girls got sick with malaria from the many mosquitoes in the camp. The UN's food distribution was not enough so the girls were dependent on others for food.
Aive lived in constant fear of the abuse inflicted on girls who had lost their parents.
"I saw little girls, 16- and 17-years-olds get pregnant when they already had their brothers and sisters to look after," Aive said.
Australia works closely with the UNHCR to identify people most in need of Australia's protection.
"I gave my name to the UNHCR and the next thing I had an interview," Aive said.
The sisters were soon granted refugee visas for Australia and given training that prepared them for the very different way of life they could expect.
Aive and her sister were resettled in Australia as unaccompanied humanitarian minors along with some 380 other refugees from the Laine refugee camp, many who were referred to Australia as being women at risk.
"Coming to Australia was just like a dream-we were not expecting it," Aive said.
"We are much safer now and I love the people here because they are very friendly. We were greeted at the airport and last Saturday, the Liberian community had a welcome where I met people who were my friends from the Ivory Coast", Aive said.
1.2.1 OFFSHORE HUMANITARIAN PROGRAM
Figure 35: Performance information-Offshore humanitarian program
Objectives
To:
- assist people in humanitarian need overseas for whom resettlement in another country is the only available option
- share the responsibility for refugee resettlement with the international community.
Description
Through the Humanitarian Program the Government provides resettlement for refugees and others who are in the greatest need of this durable solution. This output provides for the delivery of the offshore Humanitarian Program in a way that enhances settlement outcomes and supports Australia's role in sharing responsibility for alleviating humanitarian situations.
Analysis of performance
13 000 new Humanitarian Program places were made available by the Government for 2004-05. This was an increase of 1000 places from 12 000 new annual places allocated since 1995-96.
The department manages the program flexibly, allowing places to be carried over or brought forward for use between program years. We also re-credit places to available program numbers if offshore visas once granted are not taken up by the grantees or if a temporary protection visa (TPV) holder departs Australia. For 2004-05, 960 of the 13 000 new places for the year were brought forward for use in 2003-04 and 349 places were re-credited to the available program numbers as a result of TPV departees and offshore visas not being taken up by the grantees.
Following adjustment, the total number of available program places for use in 2004-05 was 12 389, comprising:
- 5498 refugee places
- 6891 special humanitarian places (including onshore protection visas).
Due to the continuing reduction in onshore protection applications a nominal allocation of 800 program places was made for onshore protection needs arising from initial applications for protection visas.
13 178 visas were granted during 2004-05 comprising:
- 5511 refugee visas
- 7667 Special Humanitarian Program (SHP) and onshore protection visas
The 7667 SHP and onshore protection visas consisted of:
- 6585 SHP visas from offshore
- 895 onshore protection visas
- 148 SHP visas providing permanent residence in Australia to East Timorese as a result of ministerial intervention on public interest grounds
- 22 other SHP visas granted to onshore applicants, as a result of ministerial intervention on public interest grounds
- 17 temporary humanitarian concern visas.
Of the total 13 178 visas granted, 12 096 were granted to offshore applicants, comprising:
- 5511 refugee visas
- 6585 SHP visas.
This was the highest number of offshore visa grants since 1995-96.
Of the total 5511 refugee visas, 841 or 15.3 per cent were granted to Woman at Risk applicants, exceeding the nominal annual target of 10.5 per cent of refugee category visas granted. The level of Woman at Risk visa grants for 2004-05 was the highest since this visa category was established in 1989. The high outcome for 2004-05 was partly due to the overall increase in refugee places for 2004-05 and the processing of special groups of refugees from West Africa where a large proportion were households headed by women. A total of 6016 Woman at Risk visas have been granted since 1989.
Offshore grants in 2004-05 were closely in line with regional priorities recommended by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with priority given to resettlement of people from Africa, the Middle East and South West Asia, as follows:
- Africa-70.16 per cent of total offshore grants, the same percentage as in 2003-04
- Middle East and South West Asia-26.24 per cent of total offshore grants, a small increase compared to 24.4 per cent in 2003-04
- Asia-3.43 per cent, a small increase compared to 1.9 per cent in 2003-04
- Europe-0.17 per cent, a small decrease compared to 3.0 per cent in 2003-04
- Americas-0.1 per cent, the same percentage as in 2003-04.
The trend to improved processing times over recent years was maintained. The target of 75 per cent of applications (persons) finalised within 12 months was exceeded with 75 per cent being finalised within 9½ months. 79 per cent of cases were finalised within 12 months. On average, offshore humanitarian cases processed in 2004-05 took seven months for all finalisations and nine months for visas granted.
In 2004-05, a total of 90 539 applications (persons) were made offshore, an increase of 11 568 (15 per cent) in comparison with 2003-04. Applications from 114 060 persons were finalised during 2004-05, which is 70 per cent more than in the previous year.
Onshore processing
The successful 2003-04 onshore processing pilot in the department's Sydney Office formed the basis for an expansion of onshore processing of SHP applications in 2004-05. The NSW exercise was formalised and expanded to include all SHP applications from people in Africa, and in April 2005 an Onshore Humanitarian Processing Centre was established in the Melbourne Office to process SHP applications from people in the Middle East.
Onshore processing of selected parts of the program caseload has allowed the department to deliver the increased program in the major source regions of Africa and the Middle East and to maintain improvements in processing times and client service.
No-interest loan scheme
We provided $2.5 million to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to enhance its no-interest loan scheme for proposers to meet the travel costs of SHP visa holders. The IOM has established a community advisory group to ensure community input into the loan fund operation.
Profile
When Yatta tucks her daughter Patience into a safe, warm bed at night, she is reminded of just how far she has come from Liberia.
In Australia Yatta has found peace, security and opportunity-things she had never known in her former country. In 2004-05, Australia has been able to provide assistance to over 13 000 people just like Yatta, who are escaping discrimination or persecution in their home country.
Yatta
When Yatta was a child, rebel gang members broke into the family home and dragged her father and stepmother out into the street where they were assaulted. The rebels forced Yatta and her brothers and sisters to clap their hands while they watched helplessly.
The rebels ceased their attack only when government soldiers arrived and began a counter-attack. Yatta's brothers carried their parents into the bush where the family hid for a week before escaping to the Ivory Coast.
The family left the Ivory Coast in 2002 when civil war escalated. They fled to a refugee camp in Guinea and Yatta began working for Action Against Hunger, an organisation that aims to educate refugees living in camps about health, sanitation and disease prevention. At the time there were frequent outbreaks of measles, cholera and diarrhoea.
In 2004 Yatta's father and stepmother decided to apply for resettlement in the United States. Yatta, her daughter, sisters and brothers applied to come to Australia instead. All five sisters and Patience arrived in Sydney in January this year, and their brothers followed later in the year.
At the airport, they were met by service providers contracted to DIMIA to help new humanitarian arrivals settle into life in Australia under the Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy.
As Yatta's English improved, she became confident enough to begin studying and working part time. She has recently completed a course in Aged Care Nursing at TAFE, and now hopes to study pharmacology.
Her enthusiasm for learning extends to her daughter's education.
"My plans for her are to go to school and keep learning. I want to help her read and write and use computers. I hope for a better future for her, and I know she will have one in Australia. Thank you so much for bringing us here."
Cultural Orientation
Building on the 2003 pilot pre-embarkation cultural orientation project in Kenya, we expanded delivery of the cultural orientation program. We contracted the IOM to provide classes in seven broad locations-Cairo, East Africa, West Africa, Middle East, Tehran, New Delhi and South East Asia.
The program typically consists of an intensive 15-hour course conducted over three consecutive days, covering topics such as: the journey to Australia; assistance and services provided to refugee and humanitarian entrants; Australian society and culture; Australia's legal system, including the role of the police; physical and mental health care; employment; education; transport; housing; and Australian state and territory information. The classes are conducted in the client's local language and provide humanitarian entrants with the necessary knowledge to improve their settlement prospects and have realistic expectations of life in Australia.
In November 2004, we contracted the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) to undertake cultural orientation training for up to 800 entrants from the Laine refugee camp in Guinea as part of the ICMC's broader role in assisting with resettlement of these persons.
The number of people who attended cultural orientation classes in 2004-05 was 5902 at a total cost of $1.055 million.
Cultural Orientation program for children in Thailand.
Special Humanitarian Program medicals
Funding became available in 2004-05 for medical screening for all SHP applicants. We expect around 7000 persons will benefit each program year.
There were 6322 persons assisted under this program in 2004-05 with expenditure of $632 172.
Pre-departure medical screening
In response to emerging health issues for humanitarian entrants from some locations, we piloted pre-departure health screening and treatment with the assistance of the IOM in Africa. Preliminary results indicate the pilots have ensured that health issues for entrants have improved and ensured smoother arrangements with post arrival service providers.
1.2.2 PROTECTION VISAS (ONSHORE)
Figure 36: Performance information-Protection visas (onshore)
Objective
To ensure that Australia efficiently and effectively fulfils its international obligation not to return, directly or indirectly, refugees to their place of persecution.
Description
Protection visas allow for the stay in Australia of people to whom Australia has protection obligations under the Refugees Convention 1951 and as amended by the Refugees Protocol 1967.
Analysis of performance
There were 8278 protection visa finalisation decisions in 2004-05. Finalisation decisions include primary decisions, visa grants resulting from review tribunal decisions and certain visa cancellation decisions. A total of 4601 protection visas (PV) were granted following primary, review or ministerial intervention decision.
These figures represent a significant increase over the numbers of protection visa finalisations and protection visa grants in 2003-04. In that year there were 6324 protection visa finalisations and a total of 1923 protection visa grants. The increase in finalisations and grants in 2004-05 reflects a significant increase in the rate of further protection visa decision-making related to applicants from countries which historically have had high protection visa approval rates. This has more than offset the impact of a continuing decline in the application rate for initial protection visa applicants which have historically had lower protection visa approval rates.
In 2004-05 there were 3105 initial protection visa applications lodged, down from 3567 in 2003-04.
In 2004-05, 922 of the protection visas granted resulted from initial applications and 3 679 resulted from applications for further protection. Of the total of 4 601 protection visas granted in the year, 895 were counted as part of the Humanitarian Program. The remainder were grants of further protection to temporary protection visa (TPV) holders and offshore temporary humanitarian visa (THV) holders who have already been counted as part of the Humanitarian Program, and grants to Australian-born children of protection visa holders.
Figure 37: Protection visa grants 2004-05
Of the 4601 protection visas granted in 2004-05, more than 93 per cent were permanent protection visas. This reflects the absence of unauthorised boat arrivals during 2004-05 and the fact that almost all further protection visas granted to temporary protection visa holders were permanent protection visas.
During 2004-05, the department's ministerial intervention support arrangements were streamlined and stronger management and coordination arrangements put in place for the community and detention intervention caseloads. We centralised the management of the detention caseload in Canberra to strengthen liaison with both the detention management areas and the Ministers' offices.
In total, there were 17 protection visa grants in 2004-05 arising from ministerial intervention.
The department has continued to give attention to streamlining onshore protection processing, strengthening arrangements for decision-maker training, country information research and character checking to ensure speedy and robust decision-making. We had a particular focus on working with other agencies to reduce waiting times for character and other checks beyond our direct control.
We finalised over 79 per cent of initial protection visa applications from applicants not in detention within 90 days of lodgement, excluding periods where there were factors outside our control that prevent finalisation. That figure excludes some refusal decisions on protection visa applications from nationals of countries affected by the December 2004 tsunami. Many of these unsuccessful applications were held unfinalised for a period to allow some stabilisation of the situation in the affected countries. Hand-down of affected refusal decisions began again from 30 June 2005.
The target for protection visa applications from people in detention is for 60 per cent of applications to be finalised within 42 days of lodgement, excluding periods where there are factors outside our control that prevent finalisation. We performed significantly better than this target in 2004-05, finalising 84 per cent of applications within 42 days.
On 13 July 2004, the Government announced new measures for TPV and THV holders. The changes acknowledge that some of these people have made strong contributions to Australia, particularly in regional areas, or have established close links with Australians.
The new measures took effect from 27 August 2004. They include:
- a reintegration assistance package to help those in Australia who wish to return to their home country to re-establish themselves
- provision for the grant of a return pending visa to eligible persons found to no longer be owed protection so they can remain lawfully in the community for an additional 18 months with continuation of payment of benefits while they make arrangements to leave Australia or seek other avenues for remaining
- removal of barriers to apply for a range of mainstream onshore visas.
At 30 June 2005, 274 return pending visas had been granted to eligible persons. Many of these visa holders are still pursuing merits reviews of the decisions to refuse those protection visa applications. Their return pending visas will become effective only if the review tribunal upholds the refusal of their protection visa applications.
The department continued work on country research and analysis to support protection visa decision-making. At the end of June 2005, our Country Information Service (CIS) held 7690 hard copy publications and documents dealing with human rights and refugee issues in other countries. The CIS also held copies of major human rights and country information collections from several other governments, including the United States, Canadian and United Kingdom governments.
The CIS's electronic country information holdings stood at some 87 500 individual information items drawn from over 2600 different sources. Some 26 500 of these information items were added during 2004-05, with over 25 per cent of them added within one day of publication and two-thirds within five days of publication.
Contributions to regional capacity-building included provision of training on Refugees Convention interpretation and refugee decision-making principles to immigration and border officials in PNG and Fiji.
On 17 June 2005, the Prime Minister announced that the department would complete all primary assessments of applications for permanent protection visas from the existing case load of TPV holders by 31 October 2005. He also announced that in future we will need to make all primary protection visa decisions within three months of application. Cases where these time limits are not met will be the subject of periodic reports to Parliament. The reports will include information on why applications have not been finalised within the required timeframe. We are putting in place streamlining arrangements to deliver the commitments on protection visa processing timelines.
Processing activity relating to persons in the Offshore Processing Centre on Nauru is dealt with under Output 1.5.