In no particular order
1. From the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister Assisting the Premier in Western Queensland, The Honourable Kerry Shine, Friday, October 05, 2007
Sudanese refugees a valuable addition to Queensland
Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews has undermined the excellent work of Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Commission and religious groups to help Sudanese refugees integrate with Queensland communities, [the Queensland] Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Kerry Shine said today.
2. Settlement of African refugees can work, Brotherhood of St Laurence, 5 October 2007
Australia can make settlement work for African refugees and on the whole it already has been successful, the Brotherhood of St Laurence said today.
A key part of the solution is linking economic needs with social needs. The Brotherhood’s experience is that assisting refugees to become “job ready” is the best basis for building a new life and identity in Australia.
And this is what refugees want – to put their past behind them, find work and contribute to the social and economic life of the Australian community, (see press release via bsl.org.au.)
3. Tony Burke, Australia’s Shadow Minister for Immigration, Integration & Citizenship, maintains a media list at:
http://www.tonyburke.com.au/file.php?file=/news/ZAAFZTMXCA/index.html
See, for example:
Refugee Quotas, interview with Jacinta Tynan (Sky News)
4. Government’s stance is destructive, Senator Andrew Bartlett, Australian Democrats
Democrats’ Immigration spokesperson, Senator Andrew Bartlett, says the Howard government’s continuing deliberate and destructive attacks on African refugees living in Australia shows they are unfit … (more from Senator Bartlett)
5. The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) expressed concerns at the Immigration Minister’s statements regarding Australia’s intake of refugees from Africa.
FECCA Chair Voula Messimeri says
This latest announcement to drastically reduce the African refugee intake from 70 per cent to 30 per cent of the total 13,000 thousand intake, flies in the face of the spirit and intent of the United Nations Convention relating to the status of refugees (1951) as well as against the Australian values of a fair go, that the government is constantly advocating (more from FECCA).
