HOPE Documentary

In July 2008 the Australian Federal Labour Government announced changes to immigration detention policy and the abolition of the Temporary Protection Visa.

For information on these changes see these websites:

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This was the situation regarding TPVs before July 2008:

Since 1999 any asylum seeker who arrives in Australia without documents and is permitted to stay as a refugee, is only entitled to a three year TPV. Towards the end of that period TPV holders are required to prove their on-going need for protection. In some cases a PPV (Permanent Protection Visa) is granted and for others, a further TPV is granted.

TPV holders are not entitled to family reunion: If, for example, a husband or father who risks his life by taking a boat to Australia is then deemed to be a refugee and granted a TPV, he cannot apply for his wife and children to reside in Australia.

TPV holders are not entitled to travel documents: TPV holders cannot depart Australia and re-enter, so they cannot, for example, visit family members in a safe third country.

A direct result of the TPV system has been that 'people smuggling' boats such as the SIEV X were crowded with women and children seeking reunion with husbands and fathers who had travelled on ahead to Australia (as men folk have traditionally done) to seek safety for their families, intending to send for them later.

Of the 353 people known to have drowned on the SIEV X , 146 were children. 142 were women and 65 were men.

Of the 45 survivors, 33 were men. Only 8 women and 4 minors (children) survived.

Links/Resources about TPVs: