what’s news in immigration?

Immigrant death toll is hushed up

18 April 2008 In June last year, the then minister for immigration, Kevin Andrews, confirmed a report from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union that 3 foreign nationals on 457 skilled worker visas had died in work-related accidents in 4 months. He said then “17 other foreigners employed on the same visas had died in Australia over the 5 previous years, but that none of those deaths were work-related”. According to the Government, releasing details of them would still "involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information" because it would lead to the identification of third parties, namely the deceased. The same argument is used to exempt in full a 12-page document listing all 457 visa holders who have died in Australia.   more...

Immigrants caught

23 April 2008 10 illegal workers hired at a Lockwood processing plant were yesterday detained by Immigration officials before being sent to the Maribyrnong Detention Centre. The location of the illegal workers follows another operation last month in which officers found 13 workers in breach of immigration regulations in Robinvale. A Department of Immigration and Citizenship spokesman added employers convicted of breaching the legislation face stiff penalties including fines of up to $13,200 and 2 years imprisonment while companies face fines of up to $66, 000 per illegal worker.   more...

Concerns on immigration continue to linger

22 April 2008 The research, by Monash University's Institute for the Study of Global Movements, points to lingering worries about immigration and race issues in Australia, despite decades of rapid demographic and cultural growth and increased government emphasis on migration to ease the skills shortage. The findings come after the Federal Government's recent decision to raise the skilled migration quota by 6,000 this year, taking the number of skilled migrant visas to 108,500 by 2007-08. more...

Dangers of EU visa changes

21 April 2008 The Schengen Convention is an agreement among countries that are members of the European Union to scrap customs posts and passport checks on their common borders. The new Schengen countries are from eastern Europe: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. In the past, many of these eastern European countries required Australians to obtain a "paper visa" in advance if they wanted to visit.   more...

9 illegal workers detained

16 April 2008 9 foreigners have been detained after being found working without permits on a South Australian fruit farm. Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Evans, says, “The Rudd Government takes a zero-tolerance approach towards illegal workers and similarly, there are no excuses for employers who engage workers without valid visas”.   more...