'Australia's human rights record blemished by punitive approach to migrants' - UN rights expert

Down Syndrome Australia has called attention to the UN's views on immigration discrimination in Australia:

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on migrants has recommended that the exemption of the Migration Act from the Disability Discrimination Act be repealed, saying that children/family members with disability should not be considered a health risk, preventing their settlement in Australia.

Down Syndrome Australia heartily endorses this recommendation, and thanks Francois Crepeau for his important work and calls on the Australian government to take action.

From the overview of the report:

CANBERRA / GENEVA (18 November 2016) – United Nations Special Rapporteur François Crépeau today warned that Australia’s human rights record has been tarnished in recent years by migration policies which have increasingly eroded the rights of migrants, in contravention of its international human rights and humanitarian obligations ...  Australia's human right record blemished by punitive approach to migrants - UN rights expert

 From the full text of the End of Mission Statement:

Family reunionThe right to live with one’s family is a fundamental right for all, Australians and non-citizens alike. It is in the best interest of the child to live with both their parents and separation for long periods of time has a huge impact on the development of children left behind. Barriers to family reunion should thus be lifted at all levels and family unity should be systematically fostered and actively facilitated. Families should never be separated for immigration purposes for long periods of time. In particular, families of vulnerable migrants should never be separated at all. Family reunion should be available to all permanent residents, as well as to all temporary migrant workers who effectively spend more than one year in Australia. Children should always benefit from the most favourable immigration status offered to one or both of their parents, in order to guarantee family unity. Moreover, children or family members with disabilities should not be systematically considered as a health risk preventing the child or the family from settling in Australia ...

End mission Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur 

on the human rights of migrants on his official visit to Australia 

(1-18 November 2016)

“Value who you are. You have lots to say and lots to achieve” : Michael Sullivan

Last week 20 Down Syndrome Australia Board Directors and state Executive Officers and one very pregnant administration coordinator braved the humidity and heat of Darwin in November for their Annual General Meeting. 

... On Friday, our AGM and board meeting was held at the Members and Guests Lounge at Parliament House and we were fortunate enough to have three speakers present to us: 

• the Honourable Jane Prentice, Assistant Minister for Social and Disability Services 
• Michael Sullivan, Chairperson of NSW Council for Intellectual Disability (CID), and 
• Suresh Rajan, President of the National Ethic Disability Alliance (NEDA). 

All three presenters were wonderful and we sincerely appreciate their contribution to our AGM. Thank you! 

But for anyone who, in particular, doesn’t know who Michael Sullivan is, we feel you should.

Michael is not only the Chair of NSW CID, but he is also on the NDIA reference group on intellectual disability, a member of Australia wide advocacy group OUR VOICE, and has recently been appointed the University of New South Wales Ambassador for Healthy Aging. 

Michael also has Down syndrome ... read more about the meeting and Michael's contribution here, on the DSA News page.

On Friday (18 November 2016, DSA posted its thanks to Suresh Rajan for his work in immigartion, on Facebook:

Down Syndrome Australia was delighted to welcome Suresh Rajan to speak at our AGM today about immigration and disability. 

The Australian Down syndrome community has long been a staunch and unwavering advocate for changes to our discriminatory immigration laws and has supported and advocated for people with Down syndrome and their families to have equal opportunity with others to migrate to Australia. 

In recent times, we have enjoyed the support and expertise of Suresh in our endeavours. With his passion for human rights, experience as President of the National Ethnic Disability Alliance, President of West Australians for Racial Equality, member of People with Disabilities Australia board, prolific commentator on social justice and human rights, and much more, not to mention being a really nice guy, he is a much valued ally.

National news

New Assistant Minister for Disability Services announced Both People With Disability Australia and NSW Council for Intellectual Disability have Jane Prentice MP (Ryan, Qld) as Assistant Minister for Disability Services,  at this 'important time in disability reform', the re-shuffled Federal Cabinet announced at the weekend.
welcomed the appointment of

• Jane Prentice's 2013 parliamentary speech in support of the NDIS 

Sri Lankan girl with Down syndrome receives temporary visa to live in Australia after Peter Dutton intervenes
Caitlyn Gribbin, ABC News online, 12 February 2016

A Sri Lankan girl who made headlines after being refused a temporary visa because she has Down syndrome will be allowed to live in Australia, after Immigration Minister Peter Dutton intervened in her case. 

Eliza Fonseka, nine, also found an unexpected ally in former Australian cricket captain Greg Chappell, who advocated for her to be granted the visa ...

Down Syndrome Australia – Media Release, 12 February 2016

Ruth Webber, CEO Down Syndrome Australia

DSA Welcomes Minister Dutton’s Intervention, however people with disability organisations call for removal of exemptions to the Migration Act. 

Down Syndrome Australia joins with the Fonseka family in thanking the Minister for Immigration, Peter Dutton, for his intervention that will allow Eliza Fonseka to come to Australia with the rest of her family. 

Angelo Fonseka was granted a Religious Worker Visa by the Department of Immigration to work with the community of Shark Bay in Western Australia. His wife and one of his children were also granted visas to come to Australia. However, his daughter Eliza was not allowed to join them – because she has Down syndrome.

Immigration - again

We know that discrimination against people with disabilities by the Australian Department of Immigration is legal - the Dept is exempt from our own discrimination law, and the 2010 Inquiry in the Immigration Treatment of People with Disabilities, while suggesting some softening of regulations, fell short of outright condemnation, and its recommendations have not been acted upon anyway.

Down Syndrome Australia commented today on Facebook, on a new article about a current case under review. 

Thanks to Suresh Rajan for writing this piece about the latest action of our federal government towards a child with Down syndrome in the name of the Immigration Act. Thanks to the Winspear family for providing the information; we wish you well in your efforts. 

As a community of people with Down syndrome, families, friends and supporters, we need to raise our voices so that this assessing the value/cost of people stops ...

"Is this what we have become? A nation that assesses the “value” of a potential entrant into this country in terms of a cost? Have we become a nation that is so economically rational that human beings are reduced to a number?  

Even if we wanted to examine the cost to us as taxpayers (and I will state categorically that I am opposed to the very concept of that) the very least we could do is assess the productive capacity of this young girl and the value she may bring us in the future."

• Bastadry in Australian migration – particularly in relation to disability, Suresh Rajan, The Stringer, 19 January 2016

 Perhaps not so much 'is this what we have become?', but 'is this where we still are in 2016?'

• Previous posts on immigration law and practice in Australia, and people with disbaility

In the news this week ...

A small collection of international news from this week's media, directly and indirectly related to people with Down syndrome:

(Bangalore) student saves 28 patients in Nepal

Nikhil Gangadhar, Deccan Herald (India), 27th April 2015
If one were to be hit by an earthquake, his foremost concern would be to escape unhurt and come out alive. However, this student from (Bangalore), placed the lives of 28 patients (with) Down Syndrome before his own. Chirag Charles, a degree student from St Joseph’s College of Arts and Science, who was stranded in Kathmandu when the deadly quake hit Nepal on Saturday, has managed to save the lives of Down Syndrome patients ...

From People with Disability (Australia), on the Nepal Earthquake, 30th April 2015:

Our thoughts are with all those affected by the recent earthquake in Nepal. Nepal's National Federation of the Disabled (NFDN) has released this article urging everyone involved in rescue and reconstruction to be inclusive in their approach and consider the needs of people with disability. You can read more by clicking this link

Immigration Minister indicates boy with autism will be allowed to stay in Australia
Dan Conifer, ABC News, 28th April 2015
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton looks set to allow a 10-year-old boy with autism to remain in Australia ...

Fight to get refugees living with a disability out of immigration detention centres

Sarah Sharples, Inner West Courier, 29th April 2015

... there were 28 kids with a disability that were listed in that report and had been there on average for 11 months ... mandatory detention and detaining people with really complex needs is really unsafe and if we’re going to delay processing them then there are ongoing consequences, particularly for children if they are developmentally delayed, then they will regress ...

Update on baby Gammy, in Thailand
Hands Across the Water (on Facebook), 27th April 2015
It has been a while since we have provided an update on Gammy but that is because life is pretty normal for him these days which is a great thing. He is 16 months old now and has four teeth and you can see from the video he is looking incredibly healthy and happy ...

Organisations speak out on two immigration matters

Australian Cross Disability Alliance supports calls for the Department of Immigration to review decision relating to child with Down syndrome

Australian Cross Disability Alliance, 7th April 2015

The Australian Cross Disability Alliance supports calls for the Department of Immigration to review its decision to deny a visa to a child because she has disability, despite finding her parents fit to live and work in Australia. The Fonseka family from Sri Lanka plan to work in a Christian crisis centre in remote Australia and claim their visa application has been denied because their daughter, Eliza has Down syndrome[i].

National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) President Suresh Rajan said:  “People are being reduced to formulas and this effectively sanctions disability discrimination,”

“People are reduced to an equation, or net benefit approach in a process that determines eligibility across the potential or possible cost to a community because of one’s disability.  It fails to view these individuals as people who participate to the overall fabric of Australian life,” said Mr Rajan.

This case is not isolated. There have been reports of similar cases in the media[ii]. Damian Griffis, CEO, First Peoples Disability Network said: “Decisions such as these reflect poorly on us all as Australians, and unfortunately are indicative of a discriminatory attitude towards disability that still prevails,”

“If the system automatically discriminates on the basis of disability, then that system needs to be reviewed,” said Mr Griffis.

Matthew Bowden, Co-CEO, People with Disability Australia said: “Australia is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and this case highlights how far we still have to go as a society. There was a national outcry recently relating to discrimination against a young child with Down syndrome, and this decision sends a message about the way we view disability and diversity as a nation.”

Carolyn Frohmader, CEO, Women With Disabilities Australia said: “The Australian Cross Disability Alliance encourages the Minister responsible to review this decision and to recognise the value and contribution of people with disability.”

---

[i] Media report 1: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-21/visa-claim-refused-because-daughter-has-down-syndrome/6337058

[ii] Media report 2: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-02/townsville-woman-faces-deportation/6369438

 

Joint Statement of Disability Organisations Calling for the Release of People Living With Disability in Immigration Detention Centres
30th March 2015

Disability service providers from across Australia call for legislative change to end the detention of all people living with a disability and their families, following the release of the Australian Human Rights Commissioner’s National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention. 

People living with disabilities are some of the most vulnerable people in the world. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees estimates there are between 2.3 and 3.3 million forcibly displaced people living with a disability, for whom resettlement options are chronically limited ... read the full Statement and list of signatories here

National Ethnic Disability Alliance report:

• The light of people living with disabilities within Australian immigration detention: demonised, detained and disowned, NEDA, March 2015

Australian Parliament celebrates World Down Syndrome Day one day and Government denies child with Down syndrome a visa the next ...

Statement from Down Syndrome Australia, 23rd March 2015:

On Thursday 19th March parliamentarians from all sides came together in our national parliament to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day. In a parliamentary first, the Senate passed a motion congratulating members of the Australian Down syndrome community.

It was therefore particularly disappointing that on the weekend when our community was celebrating the lives and achievements of people with Down syndrome that we learnt that the Immigration Department has denied a visa to Eliza Foneska.

“Many members of the Down syndrome and wider Australian community have let Down Syndrome Australia know how terribly disappointed they are at this latest decision.”

“At a time when we should be coming together to celebrate our shared achievements and inclusion, to have a decision like this made by the Immigration Department is terribly disappointing.”
“Australia rightly prides itself on being a free and open country, so to have a decision taken by a Government Department that essentially says the two parents are welcome to come to Australia but they must leave their young daughter behind sends a very cruel message to the rest of the world.”

Down Syndrome Australia will continue to push for changes to the Migration Act, so that it is no longer exempt from the Disability Discrimination Act. To exempt the decisions of the Immigration Department from the Disability Discrimination Act adds to the “low expectation environment” that people with disabilities live with within the Australian legal and legislative system.

“In addition to supporting and advocating for the Foneska family in whatever way we can, Down Syndrome Australia will continue to work towards removing this discrimination against people with Down syndrome.”

Further information/comment:
Ruth Webber
CEO Down Syndrome Australia
Ph: 0409 115 859

• National Ethnic Disability Alliance statement in support of Down Syndrome Australia, 24th March 2015

• Sri Lankan girl, Eliza Foneska, refused visa because she has Down syndrome, says family ABC News online, 21st March 2015


• Enabling Australia - report of the Inquiry into migration treatment of disability, Joint Standing Committee on Migration, 2010

• Earlier posts on this blog on immigration discrimination

Comment on immigration law

Catherine McAlpine, CEO of Down Syndrome Australia was interviewed for this news.com article highlighting that the 2010 inquiry into immigration practices affecting people with disabilities and their families (Enabling Australia: Inquiry into the Migration Treatment of Disability) has resulted in no change in Australian Immigration law.

Baby Gammy isn’t the only one: The ugly law shaming Australia
News.com, 12th August 2014
It's the law you never knew we had. Or, if you remember the embarrassing case of Dr Bernhard Moeller, it’s the law you thought we’d gotten rid of.

(The usual caution about reading the comments applies.)

A fairer approach to migration for people with disability

Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen, media release, Wednesday, 31 October 2012:

The government will act to ensure a fairer, more flexible and individualised approach to people wanting to migrate to Australia who have a disability or health issues, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen MP, announced today.

'The government will now take into account all of the circumstances when assessing prospective visa applicants against the visa health requirement,' Mr Bowen said.

'A 'net benefit' approach will allow decision makers to consider the social and economic benefits an applicant and their family bring to Australia compared to the cost of their health care.

'This will mean an individual's health costs can be offset by the benefit their family will bring to Australian society.'

From 1 July, the government proposes to increase the Significant Cost Threshold - the level at which an applicant's health costs are considered to result in significant health care and community service costs - from $21 000 to $35 000.

The government will also streamline health waivers for offshore humanitarian applicants who fail to meet the health requirement on cost grounds, bringing the offshore policy into line with onshore arrangements.
In order to maintain Australia's health standards, people who want to migrate permanently to Australia must satisfy the health requirement.

'Of course, the government's priority is the protection of public health so we will continue to apply rigorous and consistent health screening procedures,' Mr Bowen said.

'People who are considered to pose a significant health risk to the community will not be granted a visa.'

The proposed changes follow the Government's response to the recommendations made by the Joint Standing Committee on Migration's report, Enabling Australia: Inquiry into the Migration Treatment of Disability.

Mr Bowen will consult on the detailed implementation of the reforms with key stakeholders in coming weeks.

For more information on the health requirement, see The Health Requirement

• Previous posts on this blog about immigration and people with disabilities.

Disabled migrants still not welcome

Discussion of Australia's immigration treatment of people with disabilities, and how little has actually changed since the Enabling Australia report was released last year: ABC Radio National, National Interest, Friday 4th November 2011

Call for immigration cases relating to people with disability applying for residence in Australia or refugee protection

From the National Ethnic Disability Alliance:
We need your help – deadline 31 January 2011. This call is distributed on behalf of the following organisations:

· Australian Federation of Disability Organisations AFDO
· Canberra Multicultural Community Forum
· Federation of Ethnic Community Councils of Australia FECCA
· National Ethnic Disability Alliance NEDA
· People with Disability Australia PWDA
· Settlement Council of Australia

The above organisations met with Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen, in mid November 2010 to discuss the report and recommendations of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration Inquiry into migration with disability. The meeting demonstrated that there is a window of opportunity to convince the Government to change the current process and parameters for assessing people with disability when applying for migration to Australia or refugee protection.
We now need to present the Government with as many cases as possible – those that have been rejected on the basis of the applicant with disability and those with a member of the family with disability.
We also want to hear about the cases that you know about where the application has not yet been lodged, i.e. prior to rejection. All cases require consent from the applicant.

The information can be sent to office@neda.org.au  where the information will be collated and passed on to the Minister’s office. This call is open until 31 January 2011. For any queries contact Sibylle on 0407 878 933

Source:  NCOSS Ageing & Disability Update 5 January 2011

Call to change disability bias of migration law

The media interest in Enabling Australia, the recently tabled report of the Inquiry into the Migration Treatment of People with Disability.  Today's Sydney Morning Herald includes an article by immigration correspondent, Yuko Narushima.

Migration Review and disability: LifeMatters podcast

The podcast of yesterday's LifeMatters (ABC Radio National) discussion of  Enabling Australia,  the report of the recent review of immigration policy as it impacts on people with disabilities and their families, is now available to listen to online, or to download as an mp3 file.  Richard Aedy interviewed the review's Chairman, Michael Danby, and the CEO of Down Syndrome Victoria, Catherine McAlpine.

The report itself is substantial (239 pages), and is available to download as a whole, or in chapters, from the Committee's webpage.

The Joint Standing Committee on Migration has made 18 recommendations aimed at  modernising the immigration treatment of people with disabilities,  but has fallen short of recommending that disability be removed from immigration health criteria.  

Senators Sue Boyce and Sarah Hanson-Young have made "additional comments" (pp 201 - 213), stating that ....

..... "we are of the view that the Inquiry provided sufficient evidence to warrant going further than Recommendation 18 to achieve a truly nondiscriminatory, and economically and socially beneficial, approach to migration treatment of disability." 

Their further recommendations are:

Recommendation A: We recommend that the Government remove the exemption of the Migration Act 1958 from the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

Recommendation B: In the event that Recommendation A is not accepted, we recommend that the Government acknowledge that rejecting temporary visa holders as permanent visa holders solely on the basis of the birth of a child with a disability is discriminatory and develop protocols to address this.

Immigration review - report to be tabled in Parliament

The report of the Australian Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Migration -  Immigration Treatment of Disability is scheduled to be presented to the House of Representatives tonight, by the Committee Chairman, Michael Danby (MP for Melbourne Ports).

The report is now available online here.

Catherine MacAlpine, CEO of Down Syndrome Victoria will be interviewed on Life Matters, Radio National (ABC) tomorrow morning (Tuesday 22nd June) at 9.05 am, about the report.

Click here for earlier posts about Immigration to Australia, and this review.

Inquiry into the migration treatment of disability: submission called for by 28th October 2009

From the Parliament of Australia Joint Committee website:

Joint Standing Committee on Migration
The Joint Standing Committee on Migration conducts inquiries into matters referred to it by the Parliament or a Minister of the Commonwealth Government.

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator the Hon Chris Evans, and the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services, the Hon Bill Shorten, have asked the Committee to undertake an inquiry relating to the health requirement in the Migration Act.

Every year, millions of people apply to visit or migrate to Australia, and grant of a visa is conditional on a person satisfying the health requirement specified in the Migration Regulations. The health requirement is designed to protect Australia from public health risks, contain public expenditure on health and community services, and maintain access of Australian residents to those services.

Disability does not in itself mean that a person or a family will be refused a visa. However, as part of the health test, applicants with a ‘disease or condition’ are assessed on the potential cost and impact on Australian health and community services.

The Committee will investigate the assessment of the health and community costs associated with a disability as part of visa processing in Australia.

The Committee is now calling for submissions from interested individuals and organisations. The terms of reference for the inquiry and information about making a submission are available through the links below.

Following the submission period, the Committee may conduct visits to learn more or call for individuals or organisations to provide further evidence at public hearings or roundtables.

If you would like to keep informed of the progress of the inquiry, email jscm@aph.gov.au to request to be added to an electronic mailing list for all media releases associated with this inquiry.

Useful links

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s fact sheet on the health requirement is available here.

Submitters may wish to refer to Schedule 4 of the Migration Regulations 1994, which outlines the public interest criteria relating to health.

Terms of reference

Submissions

Public hearings

Media releases

Report

The Committee invites interested persons and organisations to make submissions addressing the terms of reference by Wednesday 28th October 2009

Australia signs UN protocol giving right of appeal on migration

Disabled win right of appeal

Cynthia Banham. Diplomatic Correspondent
Sydney Morning Herald, July 30, 2009

Australia has cleared the way for people to take complaints about its disability discrimination policies to the United Nations – including prospective migrants with disabled children.

The Rudd Government will announce today that a year after signing the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, it intends to accede to the Optional Protocol which establishes a complaints mechanism for breaches of the treaty.

People will only be able to take their complaints to the UN Disabilities Committee if they have exhausted all avenues of redress available in Australia.

The Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, will say in a speech today that ‘‘accession to the protocol … not only permits international scrutiny of our laws and practices, but also demonstrates our commitment to re-engage with the international community and to provide leadership in our region."

One potential area where Australia could come under scrutiny is its migration laws, which are exempt from its disability discrimination laws.

Article 18 of the UN Convention recognises the rights of people with disabilities to "liberty of movement, to freedom to choose their residence and to a nationality".

The Age (Melbourne) published a similar but longer article by the same reporter.

Joint Standing Committee on Migration: terms of reference announced

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, and the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services, the Hon Bill Shorten, have announced the terms of reference for an inquiry relating to the health requirement in the Migration Act.

The Joint Standing Committee on Migration will investigate the assessment of the health and community costs associated with a disability as part of the health test undertaken for visa processing.

The specific terms of reference are:

• Report on the options to properly assess the economic and social contribution of people with a disability and their families seeking to migrate Australia.
• Report on the impact on funding for, and availability of, community services for people with a disability moving to Australia either temporarily or permanently
• Report on whether the balance between the economic and social benefits of the entry and stay of an individual with a disability, and the costs and use of services by that individual, should be a factor in a visa decision.
• Report on how the balance between costs and benefits might be determined and the appropriate criteria for making a decision based on that assessment.
• Report on a comparative analysis of similar migrant receiving countries

Read the full text of the Minister's media release here.

Today is International Day of People with Disabilities 2008

Lots of events are planned to celebrate International Day of People with Disabilities.


Click here for the official NSW DON'T DIS my ABILITY website, and here for the national website, both of which include stories and lists of events (not all events are scheduled to be held today).

The ABC commissioned Jan Gothard, a WA disability activist with a particular interest in immigration to write recent cases, for publication today. Click here for Jan's article and the following debate from readers.

Minister for Immigration's statements, and more media reports

The Minister for Immigration, Senator Chris Evans, has issued three statements in relation to the Moeller family's approval for permanent residency granted yesterday, and to the proposed review of the immigration criteria:

• Statement by Senator Evans on Dr Bernhard Moeller
• States urged to support regulations for health waiver
• Parliamentary Committee to investigate migration and disability

• This ABC news page links to a video report from ABC TV News, including interviews with the family, and the announcement in the Senate by the Minister.
  
  And this page records an interview this morning with Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Disability Services Bill Shorten, who said:
  
  " ...... the current migration laws do not recognise the positive contribution disabled people can bring to the community.
  
  "Just because you are a person with a disability, does not mean you are a cost," he said.
  
  "We need to understand that you are a contributor.
  
  "And we've got to move beyond just looking at the person with a disability, beyond looking at their impairment and move to understanding there's a whole person with marvellous abilities in many cases.
  
  "There are concerns that the health requirement only considers the estimated cost to the public health system - along with state-related costs such as special education needs and community service - and it doesn't recognise that a person, a young person with a disability ..... can contribute to the community."

• Down Syndrome Victoria issued this media release yesterday.

Edit 28/11/2008:

• Response from the Human Rights Commissioner

Moeller family granted permanent residency - criteria to be reviewed

The family of Dr Bernhard Moeller (whose son, Lukas has Down syndrome) has been granted permanent resident status in Australia. The decision was announced today (26th November) in the Senate.

The family's appeal was rejected yesterday, and the Minister intervened today.

The Minister, Senator Chris Evans, has announced that the immigration treatment of people with disabilities would be referred to the Joint Standing Committee on Migration.

• ABC News report
• ABC News Samantha Donovan's interview with Dr Moeller for PM
• The Age (Melbourne) report