ALHR Activities

Discussion Paper - The Fairytale of Excision: Human Rights Issues on Christmas Island

Date	23 March 2009
Subject	Refugees and Migration
Type	Other publications
Description	THE FAIRYTALE OF EXCISION: HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES ON CHRISTMAS ISLAND Prepared for the UN Human Rights Committee: Consideration of Australia – 23-24 March 2009 Recent changes made by the current Australian Government have indicated a positive shift towards greater recognition and implementation of Australia’s international obligations towards boat arrivals, especially our human rights obligations. Despite the improvements that have been made, ALHR remains concerned at the retention of the excision zone and the non-statutory decision-making process for people who arrive by boat and are taken to Christmas Island. ALHR submits that this practice unlawfully discriminates between refugee groups based on their mode of arrival, and could also discriminate between certain caseloads of people of a particular ethnic origin more likely to arrive by boat than air. This discussion paper will canvass the historical context of Australia’s approach to immigration and refugee matters, the changes made under the current Government and the potential breaches of international law that were addressed by the Human Rights Committee when it considered Australia’s compliance under the ICCPR in March 2009.
Attachments	Discussion Paper (1.14 Mb)