Australia has working holiday visa agreements with the UK Canada the Netherlands Japan Republic of Ireland South Korea Malta Germany Denmark

Australia has working holiday visa agreements with the UK; Canada; the Netherlands; Japan; Republic of Ireland; South Korea; Malta; Germany; Denmark; Sweden; Norway; Hong Kong; Finland; Cyprus; France; Italy; Belgium; Estonia; and Taiwan. The working holiday scheme has grown from fewer than 50,000 people a year in the mid 1990s to more than 104,000 in 2004, according to government figures.. Also from July, backpackers who work in industries such as fishing, pearling, sheep shearing, butchery and forestry, will also be able to apply for a 12-month extension once their visas expire. But from July, the government is doubling the length of time they can stay with an employer, says the immigration minister Amanda Vanstone.
“These changes will be a win-win situation for employers and working holidaymakers and will help boost the Australian economy,” Vanstone, said. Australia has deals with 19 countries allowing people to visit and work on a one-year visa provided they do not have the same job for more than three months. British backpackers working their way around Australia will soon be allowed to stay in the same job for up to six months, the government announced today. prove that the supremacy of law prevails and that the constitutional order is being upheld.”.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, also called last week for the release on bail of the detainees.The Ethiopian ambassador to London, Berhanu Kebede, yesterday denied the trial called into question Ethiopia’s commitment to human rights “These trials … will be a crucial test of the independence and impartiality of the Ethiopian judiciary,” said the director of Amnesty International’s Africa programme, Kolawole Olaniyan. Critics of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government say that the poll was rigged.
The defendants, described by Amnesty International as “prisoners of conscience who have not used or advocated violence,” were charged with treason, inciting violence and attempting to commit genocide in December, after at least 80 people were killed in post-election violence between protesters and security forces.The election and ensuing crackdown tarnished the reputation of Mr Meles, a former close ally of Tony Blair, prompting donors, including Britain and the European Union, to halt direct budgetary aid to the sub-Saharan African country.The prosecutor, Shimeles Kemal, said yesterday: “We will present audio, video, documents and human witnesses to prove that leaders of the opposition, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) and some journalists were guilty of treason and attempted genocide against supporters of the government.”Human rights watchdogs have criticised the trial, with Amnesty International urging the Ethiopian government to free the defendants, including CUD chairman Hailu Shawel and the human rights campaigner Mesfin Wolde Mariam who, the organisation said, were on hunger strike.”This… Dozens of Ethiopian opposition leaders accused of plotting to overthrow the government appeared in court charged with treason and attempted genocide in a trial condemned by human rights groups as “absurd.”

Dressed in sombre black clothing with their hands clapped over their mouths in protest at the charges, 111 opposition leaders, independent journalists and civil rights activists were accused of conspiring with Eritrean-backed rebels to spark violent clashes in the aftermath of last year’s elections.

Government has only recently returned from KenyaHaitiMassive human rights abuse and popular unrest followed a US-backed regime changePakistanTensions between secular government and popular Islamist pressureAfghanistanTaliban insurgency on rise again and government hemmed in at KabulList compiled by the US magazine Foreign Policy. The attackers were described as belonging to the Janjaweed Arab militia that the Sudanese government is accused of using against Darfur civilians in response to the rebellion.The fact that the Sudanese government is believed to be backing the Chadian insurgents only complicates the situation.”There’s a risk that if D?’s regime collapses, then the refugee camps will not be protected,” Olivier Bercault of Human Rights Watch said.More than 200,000 refugees are sheltering in camps inside Chad, having already fled Darfur after attacks by the Janjaweed.The top 10 failed statesSudanChaos in western region of Darfur has undermined the peace dividend from the end of the north/south civil warDemocratic Republic of CongoMillions have been displaced by a bloody internal conflict that has lasted for decadesIvory CoastProtracted civil war has shattered country and government has only now met after two-year hiatusIraqIn political deadlock and on the verge of civil war after US-led invasion toppled Saddam HusseinZimbabweFacing starvation and in economic freefall under the regime of Robert MugabeChadDestabilised by Darfur fightingSomaliaStill in near anarchy under warlords. “Chad should evidently be higher on the international list because … the crises in Darfur and Chad have converged to a point where it would be impossible to settle one without addressing the other.”Albissaty Saleh Allazam, a spokesman for the FUC rebel group, said: “I can tell you that there will certainly be another action, even more striking.”The UN refugee agency said four Chadians were killed and five wounded on Monday near a refugee camp by a group of 150 armed men. would cease,” Mr Chaiban said in an interview.The fighting in Darfur has destabilised neighbouring Chad, where President Idriss D? is almost certain to extend his 16-year rule as the country heads to the polls today.Chad’s main opposition parties are boycotting the poll, which leaves Mr D?, who changed the constitution so he could stand for a third term, facing four candidates that are either officials in his government or lead parties allied to him.It is only three weeks since a rebel attack on the capital and analysts have warned that the President’s playing down of the insurgency could see Chad slide into a civil war.Chadian rebels, who have vowed to oust Mr D?, forced their way inside the gates of the capital N’djamena before being repelled by government forces.”It spells civil war,” said Suliman Baldo, Africa programme director at the International Crisis Group think-tank.

AU officials said yesterday there may be another two-day extension.Ted Chaiban, who heads Sudan operations for Unicef, said that attacks were escalating in several areas in Darfur. Mr Chaiban said the factions were probably expecting a treaty and were jockeying to hold the most territory before a ceasefire was declared.”It is important that the agreement be signed so that this kind of jockeying … The scale of the crisis put Sudan ahead of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the previous poll topper, Somalia, as well as Iraq.The Darfur peace talks, taking place in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, have dragged on for two years, with mediators expressing frustration at the warring parties’ unwillingness to compromise or to respect a ceasefire.The African Union had set a deadline on Sunday, but extended the talks by 48 hours when the rebels rejected an AU draft agreement. As the sun sets and the tourists order another round of drinks, the party is still going on But it may not be for much longer.. The humanitarian crisis in Darfur, which is now spilling over into neighbouring Chad, has pushed Sudan to the top of the Global Index of Failed States.

The report – compiled by the American magazine Foreign Policy and the think- tank Fund for Peace – was published as diplomats from Britain and the US flew to Africa to push for a peace settlement in Darfur.
African nations made up six of the top 10 failed states in the study and the regional impact of the Darfur crisis was reflected in Chad’s presence at number six.The US trade representative, Robert B Zoellick, and Britain’s International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, made unexpected arrivals at the talks in Nigeria in an attempt to pressure rebels and the Sudanese government into striking a deal before a midnight deadline last night.The failed states index ranked nations by giving them a score based on criteria such as the massive movement of refugees and internally displaced peoples, widespread violation of human rights and intervention of other states.The three-year internal conflict in Darfur has led to the deaths of at least 180,000 people and the displacement of more than two million. I guess there is another option, for the international community to find some way to put pressure.” With the violence intensifying by the day, the future looks bleak for paradise. The repercussions of the violence in the east are already being felt along the beach resorts of the south and west. “The only option the government has is to strike the LTTE at its roots, and that means war. Col Karuna, which is the nom de guerre for Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, is formerly the Tigers’ most senior field commander and represents a real threat to Tiger security.In a full-scale war, the Tigers may well believe they can win back the major towns they once controlled, Jaffna and Batticaloa.”The present situation can’t continue,” says Dr Perera.