Europe is facing a major humanitarian crisis as estimates say the numbers refugees and asylum seekers dying at sea is likely to soar as the summer “boat season” approaches. Already this year about 42,000 people have attempted to cross the…

THE language barrier can be one of the biggest hurdles facing newly arrived migrants and refugees in the Maroondah community. Read more: http://leader.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?&article=f3bf09f4-4eb2-4015-b3d9-2454c3e489f7&viewmode=2&page=8

The Federal Government has introduced wide ranging legislation to overhaul Australia’s processing of asylum seeker claims. The Immigration Minister says his amendments will make it easier to send asylum seekers to other countries and demands they provide documents more quickly…

Two-time Walkley winning photographer Barat Ali Batoor, an Afghan asylum seeker who took pictures as his boat sunk, is exhibiting in Footscray. Read more: http://www.maribyrnong.starweekly.com.au/story/1803715/barat-ali-batoor-exhibition-captures-heart-of-refugee-issue/

THE tide has officially turned on the people-smuggling trade with the number of asylum seekers returned from Australian detention or offshore processing centres now outstripping the total number of those seeking to come by boat since the election. In what…

Publicly funded training places are disappearing in most states, according to new data. The total number of students enrolled in publicly funded training across Australia for 2013 decreased 3.4 per cent to 1.88 million students from 1.94 million in 2012,…

Supporters of the Not for Profit peak body Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) have responded to the Federal Government’s cut to the peak body’s core funding – donating $50,000 in two days to its emergency funding appeal. RCOA Chief Executive…

It’s on the job training but not as you know it. In a Victorian first, an innovative program is delivering English lessons to newly arrived migrant workers in their own workplaces. Settlement agency AMES, in partnership with curtain maker Dollar…

Cultural isolation and notions of material aspiration are contributing to high rates of problem gambling among some migrant communities, new research has found. The study, by Monash University researchers found Chinese migrant gamblers are five times more likely to fall…

Asylum seekers being held at Australia’s detention centre on Manus Island were attacked by a group of locals wielding machetes, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Read more at http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2014/05/29/11/10/asylum-seekers-attacked-on-manus-island#URJi5Devoq1EWC1x.99

The right-wing, Eurosceptic and anti-immigration party UKIP has topped European Parliament polling in Britain – raising questions about the future of the nation’s migration policy and ultimately its membership of the European Union. UKIP leader Nigel Farage claims to have…

A SALVATION Army employee and PNG security guards paid by the Australian taxpayer killed an asylum seeker by bashing him with a stick, kicking him and caving his head in with a rock, a ­review has found. Read more: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/review-finds-asylum-seeker-reza-berati-killed-on-manus-island-by-salvation-army-officer-and-png-security-guards/story-fni6ulvf-1226932356054