Article by SUNILI GOVINNAGE in response to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees recently released annual report on Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries.

“With apologies to the Beach Boys – wouldn’t it be nice if this was the last ever article written about the “Asylum Seeker Debate” in Australia?

As refugee activists have been repeating for over a decade the numbers of asylum seekers who come to this country and the manner in which they come here is simply a non-issue. All the discussion we have about how we, as a country, can “Stop The Boats” just takes up valuable hot air that could be better spent on other issues that are actually important to us. Like Jackie O. Wait; no. Let’s NOT talk about that…”

Read the full article at ABC Drum Opinion…

Text taken from Read Write Web:

“Arizona’s passage of SB 1070, a law that made it a crime to be an undocumented immigrant, has heightened the state’s culture of fear, especially among immigrants. A Department of Justice investigation into racial profiling of Latinos by Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office found that Latinos are now four to nine times as likely to be stopped in traffic than non-Latinos. Often times, pre- and now post-SBN 1070, immigrant rights activists have heard complaints that family members detained would disappear without notice. App developers are trying to fix that with “eAPP,” the Emergency Alert and Personal Protection App.

The New American Media’s Valeria Fernandez writes that this app will “allow users to notify family, friends, attorneys and even their consulate when they get pulled over by law enforcement or when they are facing an emergency situation that puts their safety or civil rights at risk.” Not only will the app send a pre-set list of people information about the user’s location, it also records the date and time of the incident and can record audio or video. It can also store that data in a Web interface.

The app also informs the user of their civil rights if they are arrested. It could provide assistance in that moment of decision-making, and help immigrant advocates search for undocumented immigrants who have disappeared into the detention system.

eAPP is currently in development. Take a look at it here.”