Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project October newsletter is out now. The newsletter is packed with information related to the need for ‘cultural change’ in Australia in order to ‘meet the other’ and to truly embrace supporting our refugee and asylum seeking brothers and sisters; jobs for asylum seekers in rural Australia; where do donations to BASP go? What difference did the Budget make to people seeking asylum and refugees? and much more. Read the newsletter here.

Refugees in immigration detention need our support. We have a huge opportunity to shape Senator Jacqui Lambie’s thinking about the dangerous mobile phone ban bill. This is the bill that would enable the government to ban mobile phones across the entire immigration detention system, among other terrible things. The bill passed the House of Representatives earlier this month, and is now expected before the Senate when Parliament sits again in October. Senator Lambie most likely holds the deciding vote. Senator Lambie has posted a survey to get feedback from people about how she should vote on the bill. Click here to tell Jacqui Lambie to oppose the bill.  

The ABC has reported that a two-year-old girl born in Australia to Tamil asylum-seeker parents was “not afforded procedural fairness” in her asylum bid, and the family cannot be immediately deported, the Federal Court has decided. Justice Mark Moshinsky delivered the judgment in Melbourne on Friday 17th April, with lawyers for the family receiving the decision over the phone.

SBS News reported on 14 January 2020, that the federal government’s power to detain and deport refugees who commit crimes in Australia has been severely curtailed by a federal court ruling.  Since 2014 the Government has been making the interpretation of ‘character grounds’ ever more strict and has used this interpretation to cancel or deny visas for thousands of refugees.

"Access to decent work is not only important for economic security, but also health and well-being. It’s increasingly being recognised as a human right."Asylum Seekers need our support to find and secure employment that is relevant to their skills and knowledge, so that they can support their families and contribute to the community in a way that is rewarding for them. Read more from The Conversation, here.

"The time span is significant and they have weathered many storms. There have been waves of protest, mental illness and self-harm. They have seen riots, death and brutality, and received hospitality and disdain in seemingly equal measure. They have often been dismissed, but at other times listened to and heard across the world." A powerful written piece by Josh Lourensz of Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum about his recent visit with refugees and asylum seekers in PNG. 

Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project (BASP) continues to play a vita role in supporting some of our most vulnerable communities members. We are reminded that "donations are not always about money". They've provided a comprehensive list of practical ways we can show our support, from a spare room, to cleaning products and specific household items. 

Unfortunately for the asylum seekers detained in our detention centres, and those trying to come to Australia, our governments, and certain sections of the Australian media, have successfully spread myths concerning them that have become entrenched in the minds of a majority of the Australian voters. The Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project outlines some of the myths and the actual facts that refute them, here.

Fr Samir Haddad, Parish Priest, St Joseph’s Melkite Catholic Church, Fairfield and the Australian Syrian Charity invite you to attend this fundraising dinner to welcome new Syrian refugees to Australia, and to strengthen relationships between the Australian and Syrian communities.

Six years on from Kevin Rudd's announcement that asylum seekers arriving by boat would never be resettled in Australia, Josh Lourensz of Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum - CAPSA reflects in EurekaStreet on his 2012 stint working on Manus and the 'Frankenstein' of Australian offshore processing.