New Bill risks undermining human rights for people seeking asylum

Under the government’s new Bill to strengthen community safety and prevent hate, discrimination and violence, Bill, visas could be cancelled or refused based on what the Minister thinks someone might do.

This risks targeting people seeking asylum and undermining basic human rights.

Asylum Seekers Centre CEO Elijah Buol said:

“We support strong action to address hate and extremism and to protect communities.

“However, we are concerned about the migration provisions in the government’s new Bill to strengthen community safety and prevent hate. These measures risk punishing people seeking safety by expanding visa cancellation powers based on speculation rather than proven conduct. Cancelling a visa on loosely defined or hypothetical grounds undermines human rights and fairness for people already fleeing harm.

“We call for the migration provisions in Schedule 2 to be removed from the Bill, as they risk punishing people seeking safety.”