Vivian Alvarez Solon

Vivian Alvarez Solon: CPCA Press Release

May 8, 2005 - The wrongful deportation of Filipino-Australian woman Vivian Alvarez has angered the Filipino community in Australia which has already grown to more than a hundred thousand. The community now questions not only the detention and deportation processes of the Immigration Department, but also how citizenship is valued in this country.

ECCV calls for a Royal Commission into deportation

Media Release 30 May 2005 - The Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) has today called for a foolproof, transparent accountability process of inquiry to be set up for the wrongful deportation of Vivienne Alvarez Solon Young.

Australian Citizen Deported: Vivian Alvarez Solon 'removed' to the Philippines: Amanda Vanstone, the Minister for Immigration, is suggesting that it is Vivian who is responsible for delaying her return to Australia. Talk about blaming the victim!
STATEMENT FROM A COALITION OF COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS CONCERNING THE DEPORTATION OF VIVIAN ALVAREZ SOLON YOUNG: In a mad rush to deport Vivian Alvarez Solon Young, Immigration officers shunned a group of Filipino professionals in Brisbane from assisting her.
VIVIAN SOLON: The Face That Shamed Australia: SATURDAY, 11 JUNE 2005: The Victorian public gathered at the Trades Hall in Melbourne to call on Prime Minister John Howard and Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone to bring home Vivian Solon immediately and to commit to the rehabilitation package proposed by her lawyers.
Protesters March for Refugee Rights: GEORGE NEWHOUSE, one of Vivian Alvarez-Solon’s legal team, addressed the Sydney gathering for World Refugee Day on June 19th.
Negotiations Stall: MARCUS EINFELD QC is a former Federal and Supreme Court judge, the foundation president of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission and, with George Newhouse and Harry Freedman, he is the third member of Vivian Alvarez Solon’s team of legal advisers. On June 27, he appeared on the ABC TV current affairs program LATELINE. TONY JONES began by asking: “WHY IS VIVIAN STILL IN MANILA TODAY?”
Royal Commission Now!: Kasama Editor, DEE HUNT spoke at the Refugee Action Collective protest rally outside the Department of Immigration, Brisbane offices on June 2nd.
Deporting citizens shows an immigration policy gone mad by Fr. Shay Cullen: When I arrived at the large blue gate of the compound of the missionaries of charity last Thursday, I found the media camped outside waiting to have an interview with Vivian.
Tampa Day Rally, Brisbane.: 27 August 2005 - Speech by Dee Dicen Hunt.
Refugee Action Collective Rally outside Department of Immigration, Brisbane.: 7 Sept. 2005 - Speech by Dee Dicen Hunt.
Bring Vivian Home: WE HOPED TO BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU THE NEWS THIS MONTH THAT VIVIAN ALVAREZ–SOLON HAD AT LAST BEEN REUNITED WITH HER CHILDREN IN AUSTRALIA. BUT, SADLY SHE IS STILL IN MANILA AWAITING AN ACCEPTABLE RESETTLEMENT OFFER FROM THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT SOLICITORS.
August 27, 2005: Tampa Day Commemoration: THE REFUGEE ACTION COLLECTIVE AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL JOINED FORCES WITH OTHER ASYLUM SEEKER AND REFUGEE ADVOCATES TO BRING THEIR ISSUES OF CONCERN TO PUBLIC ATTENTION WITH TWO MAJOR ACTIVITIES: THE TAMPA DAY COMMEMORATION AND A NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR VIVIAN SOLON (SEE ARTICLE: SEPTEMBER 7, 2005: NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR VIVIAN SOLON).
September 7, 2005: National Day of Action for Vivian Solon: EDITED EXTRACTS FROM FREDERIKA STEEN’S SPEECH AT THE RALLY OUTSIDE THE DIMIA BRISBANE OFFICE:
The Palmer Inquiry Report: M. J. Palmer. "Inquiry into the Circumstances of the Immigration Detention of Cornelia Rau", Report, July 2005.
‘As bad as it gets? Don’t count on it’: Julian Burnside, 25 May 2005.
"Women in Immigration Detention: more questions than answers" By Eva Cox and Terry Priest.: August 2005, University of Technology, Sydney. Report funded by The Pamela Denoon Trust, for the Women’s Electoral Lobby, Australia. (For a full copy email Eva Cox eva.cox@uts.edu.au or SPAN)
‘Vanstone must go: protest at DIMIA’: Melbourne Indymedia, 13 May 2005.
"The removal, search for and discovery of Ms Vivian Solon" - Final report, 8 December 2005: The Senate, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee, Final report, 8 December 2005, Senate Printing Unit, Parliament House, Canberra.
Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee’s Inquiry into the Administration and Operation of the Migration Act 1958: August 12, 2005, Centre for Philippine Concerns-Australia, Brisbane Branch.
[#218] Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee Department of the Senate: August 12, 2005, Justice for Vivian.
Vivian Returns To Australia: VIVIAN ALVAREZ SOLON ARRIVED IN SYDNEY FROM MANILA ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18 ACCOMPANIED BY HER SISTER AND AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. IN THE AFTERNOON VIVIAN AND HER LEGAL TEAM SPOKE WITH THE MEDIA.
Justice still in detention: Last Christmas Vivian Alvarez Solon was enjoying the charity of Mother Theresa’s nuns in the Philippines but in Australia her family wondered whether she was dead or alive. And Cornelia Rau was probably celebrating her Christmas in “Red One”, the solitary confinement wing of Baxter detention centre.

VIVIAN SOLON’S compensation case goes to arbitration

Unable to come to terms, Vivian Alvarez Solon’s legal team and the Australian Government Solicitors have submitted to arbitration Vivian’s claim of compensation for her wrongful detention and deportation.

STILL WAITING: the need for culture change in the Department of Immigration

March 5, 2006 —Brisbane— The Qld. Refugee Action Committee held a one-day conference asking “Unfinished Business: Where To Now For The Refugee Policy?” George Newhouse, was the keynote speaker.

UPDATE: Vivian Alvarez Solon

December 1, 2006 - $4.5m payout to Alvarez