News & Stories
Refugee Week 2022: Andrew Hamilton SJ
June 2022The theme of Refugee Week this year is healing. Refugees need healing themselves and their healing in turn depends on wider healing in the world.To be a refugee or a person seeking asylum is to have suffered trauma. We can see it in the eyes of people…
Read MoreAustralia’s response to refugees fleeing persecution: sympathetic words and limited promises
ANDY HAMILTON SJ reflects that in refugee policy, kind words and empty promises in a crisis are not enough – strong political leadership is required to welcome refugees even when populist opinion has turned against them.The Russian war on Ukraine has provoked heart-wrenching scenes of long columns of…
Read MoreFederal Budget 2022: CAPSA welcomes announcement of 16,500 additional places for Afghan refugees, urges Federal Government to do more for refugees and people seeking asylum
The Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum (CAPSA) welcomes the Federal Government’s provision of 16,500 additional humanitarian places over four years for refugees seeking protection from the ongoing Afghanistan crisis.While CAPSA is pleased to see this crucial announcement, it expresses concern that the Federal Government continues to allocate…
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Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday invites us to consider the price we put on humanity and compassion, writes ANDY HAMILTON SJ.
Read MoreProposed inhumane changes to Migration Act cannot be allowed to pass
The passing of the Immigration Amendment Act (Prohibiting Items in Immigration Detention Facilities) Bill 2020 would be unnecessarily cruel and have a significantly detrimental impact on the mental health and wellbeing of vulnerable people, says the Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum (CAPSA).The amendment is due to be…
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Palm Sunday an appropriate day to walk with people who are powerless
Each year on Palm Sunday, small groups in major Australian cities have marched to plead the cause of people who seek protection. This year Coronavirus will prevent the marches, and rightly so. But we should take time to honour the commitment and enthusiasm of the participants, and to…
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Medevac repeal vindictiveness foreign to our sense of ourselves as a nation
By Fr Andy Hamilton SJ. This piece was first published by Jesuit Social Services on their blog. Above picture taken during CAPSA-coordinated delegation to PNG – The Bomana Immigration Detention Centre, Port Moresby, where a number of men in need of medical treatment are detained. To a casual…
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‘There has to be a better solution’ for Manus and Nauru
An open letter to our political leaders on hope and change for people seeking asylum and refugees who have been living on Manus and Nauru for the last six years by Paige Van Every. Our four children are fortunate enough to be born here in Australia and they,…
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