The Australian Greens have introduced a bill today to create a special visa class to bring Afghan interpreters, who have worked with our troops in their home country, to Australia.

 "Recognising the amazing work of Afghan interpreters who risk their lives to keep our troops safe is the only right thing for us to do,” the Greens’ immigration spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

‘Unbearable’ is how the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights has described the situation for detainees on Nauru and the Australian Greens say it is time to act.

 “The world is watching while Australia mistreats extremely vulnerable people who come to us for help and it is high time the Government started listening to the criticism from top human rights experts,” the Greens’ immigration spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The Human Rights Commissioner’s comments regarding offshore processing on Nauru have shown just how unacceptable the situation there is, the Australian Greens said.

 “The top expert on human rights in Australia has recognised that the human rights breaches that are happening on Nauru are totally unacceptable,” Greens’ spokesperson for immigration, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The continued protests by refugees on Nauru show just how damaging the conditions there are, the Australian Greens said.

“The indefensible combination of inhumane conditions and indefinite offshore detention has brought these already vulnerable people to breaking point,” Greens’ spokesperson for immigration, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The Australian Greens have announced they will introduce a bill into the Senate that would create a special visa class enabling the permanent resettlement in Australia for Afghan interpreters and other at-risk employees who worked for the Coalition forces, along with their families.

 “Australia is indebted to the brave Afghan men and women who risk their lives by working with the Coalition armed forces in their home country,” Greens spokesperson for human rights, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The Australian Greens say the Government must heed the warnings of the Australian Medical Association and support a bill put forward by Greens’ Senators Sarah Hanson-Young and Richard Di Natale that would establish an independent health oversight panel for refugees.

The Australian Government must ensure the safety of a Tamil man they are sending back to Sri Lanka at the same time as the British High Court has chosen to halt similar deportations, the Australian Greens said today.

 “The British High Court is aware of the persecution that awaits these people when they return home, but the Australian Government is still deporting them," Greens spokesperson for immigration, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The huge cost of the Gillard Government’s offshore detention policy, which remains a mystery because of the deliberate obfuscation of the total expense, hasn’t been solved in today’s MYEFO announcement according to the Australian Greens.

 “Despite the Government admitting to a $1.2 billion blowout in the cost of implementing their immigration policy, the actual expense to the Australian tax payer remains a mystery,” Greens immigration spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The Labor Party and Tony Abbott’s coalition are auctioning off the lives off refugees in a bid to implement the most inhumane immigration policies, the Australian Greens said.

 “The Government refuses to say what ‘no advantage’ means, but we now know that the Opposition plans to destroy people by sending them to Nauru and Manus Island for at least five years,” Greens immigration spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

Parliament needs to change the law to ensure that a recently announced independent review function for refugees with adverse security assessments achieves its aims, the Australian Greens said.

 “Today I have written to the Attorney General’s office offering the Greens’ assistance in passing legislation that would enshrine the independent review process for refugees with adverse ASIO assessments in law” Australian Greens spokesperson for immigration, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.