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in protecting the rights of Indigenous
children. However, on 15 December, it
ratified the Optional Protocol to the
Convention against Torture (OPCAT), which
mandates that youth detention centres and
police lockups are subject to independent
oversight and monitoring.
REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS
On 9 April, the government announced that
the Australian-run facility on Manus Island,
Papua New Guinea (PNG), would be closed
by 31 October following the PNG Supreme
Court ruling in 2016 that the centre was
“illegal” and “unconstitutional”. On 14 April,
PNG Defence Force personnel fired into the
centre injuring nine people.
The men in detention were forcibly moved
into “transit” centres on Manus Island on 24
November. By the end of the year there was
no clear plan for the settlement of refugees in
a safe country.
As of December there were approximately
800 adult males in detention on Manus
Island (see Papua New Guinea entry).
The Australian government was forced to
pay a settlement in June to nearly 2,000
refugees and asylum-seekers held on Manus
Island, for illegally detaining them in horrific
conditions between 2012 and 2016.
As of 30 November, there were 339 people
living in the offshore processing facility on
Nauru, including 36 children. They were
subjected to humiliation, neglect, abuse and
poor physical and mental health care. At
least 820 additional refugees lived in the
community on Nauru; these people faced
serious security risks and inadequate access
to health care, education and employment.
Approximately 435 people transferred to
Australia for medical treatment remained at
risk of return to either Nauru or Manus
Island.
Australia continued its “turnback” policy. In
May the government reported that since
2013, 30 boats had been returned either to
Indonesia or to their country of departure.
During 2017 people were directly returned to
their country of nationality on three known
occasions: from a boat containing 25 Sri
Lankan nationals in March; five Chinese
nationals who landed in northern Australia in
August; and a boat containing 29 Sri Lankan
nationals in December.
Australia continued its policy of mandatory
indefinite detention of people arriving by
plane without a visa. As of 30 November,
there were 1,301 people in immigration
detention onshore (including on Christmas
Island). Of these, 19.8% had been detained
for over 730 days.
Australia’s resettlement and humanitarian
intake was 16,250 for its financial year
beginning in June. This decreased from
almost 22,000 for the previous financial year,
with an additional intake of Syrian and Iraqi
refugees ending.
RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL,
TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE
Following an overwhelming vote in favour of
same-sex marriage, Parliament passed
legislation to create marriage equality in
December. The postal survey process chosen
by the government failed to acknowledge that
marriage equality is a human right and
generated divisive and damaging public
debate.
AUSTRIA
Republic of Austria
Head of state: Alexander Van der Bellen (replaced
Heinz Fischer in January)
Head of government: Sebastian Kurz (replaced
Christian Kern in December)
The number of asylum-seekers continued to
fall. Authorities continued to deport
rejected asylum-seekers to Afghanistan
despite the security situation in the country.
Amendments to the law on public
assemblies increased the potential for
restrictions on the right to peaceful
assembly.
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REFUGEES’ AND MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS –
FORCIBLE RETURN
Between January and August, 17,095 people
requested asylum; the number fell by nearly
half compared to 32,114 people for the same
period in 2016.
In October, Parliament amended the asylum
law to automatically add a return order to any
decision concerning the revocation of asylum
or subsidiary protection status, for example
upon conviction for a criminal offence,
increasing the risk of refoulement – forcible
return of an individual to a country where
they would risk serious human rights
violations.
The authorities continued to deport rejected
asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants
to Afghanistan despite the deterioration of the
security situation in the country. In the first
half of the year, 67 people were forcibly
returned there.
In September, the Minister of the Interior
announced the non-renewal of the
Humanitarian Admission Programme
pointing to the large number of asylum cases
that were still pending. Since 2013, 1,900
vulnerable refugees had been successfully
resettled through the Programme.
During the year, asylum-seekers brought six
individual complaints before the UN Human
Rights Committee alleging that their return
under the Dublin III Regulation (an EU law
that establishes the criteria and mechanisms
for determining the EU member state
responsible for examining an asylum
application) to Bulgaria and Italy would
violate their human rights. In March the
authorities deported a Syrian family to
Bulgaria and in June a Somalian woman to
Italy, despite the Human Rights Committee
requesting Austria to refrain from doing so.
FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY
In June, Parliament amended the law on
public assemblies, which gave the authorities
new vaguely formulated grounds to prohibit
public assemblies, including where an
assembly is “against a foreign policy
interest”. Shortly after, the Minister of the
Interior suggested the introduction of further
far-reaching amendments to the law,
including fines and other administrative
measures against organizers not complying
with the law, and a cap on the number of
public assemblies taking place in shopping
streets. There were no steps to further amend
the law at the end of the year.
COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY
In July, the government tabled an
amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code
that would introduce several new far-reaching
surveillance methods. The amendment gave
rise to concern regarding the right to privacy.
The methods included software to access
data from smartphones and techniques to
intercept mobile phone traffic. The authorities
would be able to use many of those
techniques without seeking prior judicial
authorization.
DISCRIMINATION
In October, a new law entered into force
banning any kind of full-face covering in
public spaces. Despite its purpose of
“promoting active participation in society”,
the law disproportionately restricted the rights
to freedom of expression and of religion or
belief.
In June, the Austrian National Council
rejected a motion that would open a
discussion on equal marriage irrespective of
sexual orientation and gender identity. Same-
sex couples could enter a civil partnership
but were not allowed to marry. In December,
the Constitutional Court repealed
discriminatory passages of the Marriage Act
and the Registered Partnership Act. The
repeal was to take effect from 1 January
2019, thus enabling same-sex couples to
marry and heterosexual couples to enter
registered partnerships.