Whilst welcoming Immigration Minister Chris Bowen's lifting of the freeze on processing of Afghan asylum claims, the Edmund Rice Centre today expressed serious concerns about the Minister's statement that he now expects lower numbers of successful claims.

The Edmund Rice Centre in conjunction with the Pacific Calling Partnership next week will be taking a delegation of Australian community leaders to Kiribati. The delegation will be led by one of the most senior Indigenous leaders in Australia Patrick Dodson and ERC director Phil Glendenning, and will include representatives from Indigenous communities, the arts, media and education.

Edmund Rice Centre director, Phil Glendenning, expressed serious concerns today at both the content and language used by Prime-Minister Julia Gillard in her address this morning on the Government's policy response to asylum-seekers.