The emerging practice of the Australian Government in seeking close cooperation with Indonesia and other neighbouring states to deal with asylum seekers must focus primarily on the protection of those who are in fact fleeing for their lives.

“The Edmund Rice Centre (ERC) welcomes the Report from the National Human Rights Consultation Committee,” said Dr. John Sweeney, who co-ordinates the Centre's research.

Edmund Rice Centre (ERC) issued a call today for the people of the Pacific whose lives are daily affected by the impact of climate change and rising sea levels, not to be excluded when the world gathers in Copenhagen in December. 

Climate change advocates from within church groups in Australia are heading for the Pacific island nation of Kiribati to strategise with colleagues there, on how they will communicate the plight of the people of Kiribati at the UN Climate Change Summit when the two groups travel to Copenhagen together in December.

The cases of Grace Gichuhi and Teresia Muturi, who have been told by the Department of Immigration to return to Kenya where they fear genital mutilation, are clear examples of the need for complementary protection, according to the Edmund Rice Centre.