Daniel Webb wins Global Pluralism Award for refugee rights work

A message from Hugh de Kretser, Executive Director of the Human Rights Law Centre to our supporters.

I am delighted to announce that the Human Rights Law Centre’s Director of Legal Advocacy, Daniel Webb, has won an inaugural Global Pluralism Award – awarded by the Canadian-based Global Centre for Pluralism.

“By protecting asylum seekers from horrendous detention and changing the public conversation about refugees from deterrence to opportunity, Daniel Webb is paving a way for other global leaders.”

— Canada’s former Prime Minister and Chair of the Jury the Rt. Hon. Joe Clark.

This award is worthy recognition of Daniel’s work, the gravity of the cruelty he and his team are working against and the rising tide of international concern at the way our Government is deliberately mistreating people seeking safety.

I watch every day as Daniel – together with our refugee rights lawyers Amy Frew and Arif Hussein – support clients facing deportation to offshore detention. I hear them on the phone advising terrified families, coordinating High Court cases with pro bono law firms and strategising with our advocacy partners. They are doing important work in difficult circumstances, and it is having a real impact on people’s lives.

Daniel has led our work in this area for five years. He’s travelled to Manus three times and works closely with the men detained there to amplify their voices. He has run High Court challenges against the secretive detention of people on the high seas and led our work on the #LetThemStay campaign, which prevented the deportation of more than 267 men, women and children to offshore processing centres.

Thanks to this work, 386 people remain in safety in Australia instead of trapped indefinitely on Manus and Nauru. 50 babies have taken their first steps and spoken their first words in parks around the country instead of in a tent on a remote island.

You can read more about the Global Pluralism Award here. 

We are incredibly proud of the work Daniel and his team are doing and the impact it is having.

And we are very grateful for your support.

— Hugh de Kretser, Executive Director