http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/graham-thom/ Dr Graham Thom has been Amnesty International Australia’s Refugee Coordinator since 2000, working on behalf of individual asylum seekers as well as on broader human rights issues relating to refugees. Dr Thom has visited refugee camps and detention centres in India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Syria, Iraq and Australia. In 2009, he visited Christmas Island for the second time. Dr Thom publishes and lectures on domestic and international refugee issues and has represented Amnesty International at UNHCR’s Annual Tripartite Consultation on Resettlement in Geneva for the past three years. He completed his doctoral thesis on post-war migration at the University of Sydney in 2000. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-labor-roped-timor-into-asylum-seeker-vote-grabbing/ On Monday Chris Bowen, Australia’s Minister for Immigration, flew out to East Timor, Indonesia and Malaysia to push for the development of a so-called ‘regional framework’ for addressing refugee issues, and more specifically to progress the idea of a regional processing centre for asylum seekers in East Timor. The day before he left, Minister Bowen told Laurie Oakes that the trip was about more than just regional processing centre and that he is working towards the development of “an entire regional framework” to deal with the refugee issue. In the same interview, he also made the point that “it makes sense for all of us, all of our regional neighbours to work together in reaching a solution to what is essentially an international and regional problem.” feedback@thepunch.com.au (Graham Thom) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-labor-roped-timor-into-asylum-seeker-vote-grabbing/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-labor-roped-timor-into-asylum-seeker-vote-grabbing/#item4231 Tue, 12 Oct 2010 19:38:35 +0000 Graham Thom | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-journalist-vanishes-along-with-our-compassion/ In light of last Friday’s announcement that the Australian Government has implemented a blanket suspension on the processing of new asylum claims by Afghan and Sri Lankan nationals, it is worth going back to basics and taking a moment to consider the human rights reality for many people living in those countries.  It may not be pleasant to read, but it certainly places the government’s announcement in the international context in which it should rightly be considered, and gives an insight into the reasons people are fleeing. On 24 January Sri Lankan journalist and political analyst Prageeth Eknaligoda disappeared shortly after leaving work at the Lanka-e-News office in Homagama, near the capital Colombo. He has not been heard from since. In the lead up to his disappearance, Prageeth Eknaligoda had been actively reporting on Sri Lanka’s presidential elections, had been critical of the Sri Lankan Government and had received threats. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Graham Thom) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-journalist-vanishes-along-with-our-compassion/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-journalist-vanishes-along-with-our-compassion/#item2833 Tue, 13 Apr 2010 19:40:20 +0000 Graham Thom | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/australia-really-has-a-tiny-number-of-asylum-seekers/ On Tuesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees released the statistics on global asylum trends for 2009. Somewhat predictably, a lot of fuss has been made about the increase in asylum applications received by Australia.  While numbers of asylum seekers globally have remained steady, Australia has seen a 30 per cent increase. A crude reading of this statistic may seem to support the “pull factor” argument, namely that Australian domestic legislation, not international situations, is to blame for seemingly large increases in the number of asylum applications. But statistics, and percentages in particular, can be misleading. Australia receives so few applications for asylum that a 30 per cent increase means only 1400 additional people sought asylum here last year, as compared to 2008. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Graham Thom) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/australia-really-has-a-tiny-number-of-asylum-seekers/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/australia-really-has-a-tiny-number-of-asylum-seekers/#item2703 Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:45:35 +0000 Graham Thom | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-queue/ With detention facilities on Christmas Island getting closer and closer to capacity, and a Federal election looming, the issue of desperate people seeking asylum on Australian shores remains a hotbed of cheap political point-scoring at the expense of some of the world’s neediest people. Disappointingly, the term “queue jumper” is now so deeply entrenched in our nation’s vernacular that some Australian politicians use it interchangeably with the term “asylum seeker”. Let me be clear and point out that two are not synonymous. In fact, the queue is a myth.  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Graham Thom) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-queue/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-queue/#item2466 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:50:35 +0000 Graham Thom | Author bios | The Punch