Breaking Down Australia\'s Offshore Processing of Asylum Seekers Policy
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Offshore Processing: The Real issue
Breaking down Australia’s offshore processing of asylum seekers policy. Amine Allali, Essay: GOVT1104 , October 2015
In April 1976, a boat carrying five Vietnamese men sailed into the
Darwin
coastline
ever-deteriorating
and
dilemma
marked which
the would
beginning bring
of
an
Australian
nationalism, politics and ethics head to head with a global humanitarian refugee crisis. The UN refugee agency, created to resettle the estimated one million refugees displaced during World War II is today working to resettle over 13 million refugees 1
worldwide. The series of events which have taken place over the course of last forty years have had devastating impacts on the Middle East and its people but also severe consequences for the
broader
governments
international have
debated
community. the
2
Successive
treatment
of
Australian
refugees
and
asylum-seekers arriving by boat, however, the issue has seen a substantial increase in attention in recent years as the number of asylum seekers from the Middle East has risen. Australia’s hardline stance has brought the ethics of Australian offshore processing systems to question. Steven Lukes introduces the ability to
1
Refugee Figures (2013), The UN refugee agency, http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c1d.html . 2 The Iranian revolution, the Iran-Iraq war, the war in Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq, the Arab spring, the development of various militant ‘ radical’ groups such as Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda and eventually the rise of the Islamic State. 1
Offshore Processing: The Real issue
manipulate public opinion - in addition to the ability to make decisions and set the agenda as a third dimension of power. This essay will demonstrate that Lukes’ theory effectively describes how the Australian government’s actions or non-actions have effectively shaped public opinion to create a strong opposition to refugees arriving by boat. Furthermore, it will discuss the issue of state sovereignty threatened by refugees ‘illegally’ arriving by boat and the eventual burden they will represent to the Australian society.
Australia is an island over nine thousand kilometres away from the Middle East and is one of the most stable industrialised nations on earth. Australia is arguably one of the hardest countries to reach as a financially disadvantaged refugee but the Australian government sees the recent influx of Middle Eastern refugees as an attack on state sovereignty, which by definition is attributed to a country
whose
governing
body
holds
uncontested
‘supreme
authority’ - which is the case in Australia. In 2001, the Australian Minister for Immigration stated that “the protection of our sovereignty, including Australia’s sovereign right to determine who shall enter Australia, is a matter for the Australian government and this parliament”, essentially defining sovereignty as the ‘right to 3
exclude’. Although Minister Ruddock’s claim is inherently true, it is also invalid as Australia is a signatory of the UN Refugee Convention which recognises refugees as having the right to enter a country for
3
Phillip Ruddock in K Gerber & M McDonald, ‘ Ethics and Exclusion: Representation of Sovereignty in Australia ’ s Approach to Asylum Seekers’ in Review of International Studies, Vol. 32, No. 2 (April 2006), p .269. 2
Offshore Processing: The Real issue
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the purposes of asylum seeking by any means.
Additionally,
Australia’s dwarfed 14215 boat arrivals since 2006 compared to Yemen’s 342192 or Italy’s 152821 and the constant criticism by UN Officials is evidence of its successful persuasion of its people as the government virtually created a problem, to which it then offered the 5
solution. Such statements enable the promotion of new perspectives from which to view the refugee crisis: from a humanitarian issue to border protection discrepancy. This in effect has the capacity to persuade the large Australian middle class that the hardline, ‘stop the boats’ policy is in fact in their interest as the large number of ‘illegal’ boat arrivals are compromising the Australian way of life. While it is very difficult to empirically evaluate this theory, one might argue it illustrates the way in which the government successfully maintains its policy even as it contravenes international law including the United Nations Convention and Protocol relating to the status of Refugees, to which Australia is a signatory. Government’s
disregard
6
Additionally, the
for public outcry due to inhumane
treatment of refugees sent to offshore processing camps, namely 7
Nauru and Manus Island in PNG followed by a series of policies attacking whistleblowers and suppressing events taking place on those offshore centres could be described by Lukes’ theory as the latest
‘action’
and
‘non-action’
aiming
4
to preserve
the past
United Nations (1951). Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/refugees.htm; see Article 1F. 5 Factsheet: Boat Arrivals, https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/fact-sheets/asylum-seeker-issues/boat-arriv als/ . 6 United Nations (1951). Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/refugees.htm; see Article 1F. 7 PNG is short for Papua New Guinea. 3
Offshore Processing: The Real issue
non-action’s success which permitted the neglect of international law. Furthermore, this argument gives way to an array of arguments even more so based on prejudice and a lack of evidence.
The ‘threat’ posed to national security by a major influx of refugees from a region home to the world's most notorious terrorist groups, is the apprehensive sibling to the sovereignty argument. “It has been in successive Government’s interests to maintain voters’ perception that asylum seekers are a threat”.
8
An attempt to
‘maintain’ any public perception on any issue is manipulation. As a matter of fact, the large majority of asylum seekers headed for Australia are Afghanis, Iraqis and Iranians. The last five decades have seen revolutions sweep through the Arab world - conflicts between peoples and their respective governments, the toppling of various regimes by western powers, the war in Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq, the Iran-Iraq War and more recently the rise of the Islamic State. Consequently, it is with no great surprise that we today face 9
the largest refugee crisis since World War II. These conflicts have also created a general resentment towards Islam in the Western world. The ‘Muslim-terrorist’ correlation is prevalent in the west as the events of 9/11 contributed to the increased prejudice and stigma
8
Paula Mathewson, ‘ How we ’ re exploiting the terrorism threat ’ on ABC News (29/09/2014), http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-29/matthewson-how-were-exploiting-th e-terrorism-threat/5775340 . 9 Syria conflict: BBC exclusive interview with President Bashar al-Assad (10/02/2015), http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31327153 . 4
Offshore Processing: The Real issue
even in Australia.
10
Peter Reith was first to publicly make the ‘boat
people-terrorist’ connection and whilst it remains difficult to quantify
public
opinion, one can assess the truth value of
preconceptions with evidence based research, particularly on the 11
‘nature’ of refugees arriving by boat. The UN Refugee Convention excludes people who have committed
war crimes, crimes against peace, crimes against
humanity and any other serious non-political crimes from refugee 12
status.
Australia is advantaged by its geographic position and
acknowledging the fact that all asylum seekers must undergo intense security checks whilst those without identification documentation are subjected to mandatory detention, the anxiety fuelling threat expressed by the likes of Jacqui Lambie and Cory Bernardi are reduced to ‘fear-mongering’ - lacking real evidence - which, in this 13
case, can arguably be rendered as racism. Moreover, only one boat made it ashore in 2015, all others were intercepted and redirected to camps in PNG, essentially passing on the responsibility to a far less 14
capable neighbour for processing. Out of the 217 refugees assessed on Christmas Island in the 2008-2009 period, 206 were approved
10
G Hugo, ‘ Australian Immigration Policy: The Significance of the Events of September 11 ’ in International Migration Review, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Spring 2002), pp. 37-40. 11 G Henderson, ‘ Terrorist don ’ t come via detention centres ’ in The Age (19/11/2002), http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/11/18/1037599359073.html 12 United Nations (1951). Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/refugees.htm; see Article 1F. 13 Paula Mathewson, ‘ How we ’ re exploiting the terrorism threat ’ on ABC News (29/09/2014), http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-29/matthewson-how-were-exploiting-th e-terrorism-threat/5775340 . 14 J Phillips & H Spinks, Boat arrivals in Australia: a quick guide to the statistics Research Paper, Parliamentary Library, Parliament of Australia (2014) p. 2. 5
Offshore Processing: The Real issue
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and granted protection visas - that's 95%. This example invalidates the claim that asylum seekers present a threat, paralleled with Germany, host to almost half a million refugees in 2009 (compared to Australia’s 20919) and which has not experienced increased acts of 1617
terror as a result.
Furthermore, Australia’s re-engagement on the
‘War on Terror’ buries the asylum seeker issues under the media focus on the atrocities of radical (fundamentalist) Islam, further 18
deteriorating the public perception of the Muslim population.
Lukes’ theory represents a gap in our conception of power. The depth required to apply this theory is unattractive in complexity, however it holds accountable actors in every single step which they take. The language used by governments has had a substantial impact on policy approval and policy making. The importance
of
defining
concepts
is
paramount
to
objective
resolutions in domestic and foreign policy. This is particularly the case for the controversial topic of refugees in Australia. The government repeatedly refers to refugees arriving by boat as ‘Illegal boat people’ or ‘Queue Jumpers’, - these are undoubtedly derogative terms
and
are
subsequently
adopted
15
by
some
people,
but
Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2009). .Annual Report 2008-09, http://www.immi.gov.au/about/reports/annual/2008-09/html/; see Section 1.2.2. 16 2015 UNHCR subregional operations profile - Northern, Western, Central and Southern Europe, http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e48e5f6.html# . 17 Claire Groden, ‘Here’s why Germany is welcoming migrants with open arms’, Fortune, 8th of September 2015, http://fortune.com/2015/09/08/germany-migrant-crisis/. 18 M Welch, ‘ Quiet Constructions in the War on Terror: Subjecting Asylum Seekers to Unnecessary Detention ’ in Social Justice, V ol. 31, No. 1/2 (95-96), Resisting Militarism and Globalised Punishment (2004), pp.113-129. 6
Offshore Processing: The Real issue
inappropriate to say the least: Under Article 14 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all have the right to seek asylum, and the 1951 Refugee Convention prohibits states from imposing penalties on those entering the country without valid visas but with legitimate claims.19 Furthermore, under no Australian law have these people committed a crime.20 Certainly, the ‘illegal’ label would be well suited for those entering the country without a valid visa and without legitimate claims, who represent double the population of refugees in Australia. ‘Overstayers’ currently have no place on the agenda and represent a ‘non-action’ authorities use to maintain the 21
‘(il)legal’ importance of refugees arriving by sea. Paradoxically, the Australian government is further willing to pour resources into ‘stopping the boats’ - one of (very) few promises held by the Abbott Government - than abiding by conventions to which it is a signatory and worse still, paying a far less developed country up to forty million Australian tax payer dollars to take one thousand asylum 22
seekers from the Nauru facility, namely Cambodia. Cambodia was implicated in the forcible deportation of asylum seekers to China, which has not passed legislation directly related to its obligations 23
under the Convention.
The Government’s pride in efforts to
United Nations (1951). Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/refugees.htm; see Article 1F. 20 Myths and Facts + Solutions’, Asylum Seeker Resource Center, http://www.asrc.org.au/pdf/myths-facts-solutions-info_.pdf. 21 J Phillips, ‘ Asylum Seekers and refugees: What are the facts? ’ in Parliamentary Library, 14 January 201, p. 3. 22 ‘ A Cambodian Solution ’ featured in The Economist, 2014, http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2014/08/australia-s-asylum-seekers . 23 ‘ 4 Myths and Facts about Refugees and Asylum Seekers’ , Refugee Council of Australia, (2010), https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/docs/news&events/rw/2010/4%20-%20Myt 19
7
Offshore Processing: The Real issue
‘upkeep the public’s opinion to accommodate refugees’ is a direct contradiction with its effort to shroud this “Refugee Dumping Deal” in secrecy.
2425
Lastly, the fuelled fears of hosting a large number of refugees in Australia would not be complete without detailed projections of the economic effect it represents. For this argument, societal contribution is defined as civic and economic contribution over a long period of time and is not reduced to something which cannot be given a quantifiable value. With this in mind, Richard Parson states “no model or study indicates that refugees impose a burden over the long term” and goes to great lengths to explain why this fact is not widely known, which he summarises as the ‘extensive reliance’ of the general public and politicians on anecdote, assertion and storytelling but perhaps also the ‘non-action’ of the government to circulate these facts to improve intercultural relations and refugee 26
support within Australia.
In conclusion, whilst abstract, Lukes’ ‘third face of power’ theory coherently reveals how exercising power by the Australian
hs%20and%20facts%20about%20refugees%20and%20asylum%20seekers%202010 .pdf . 24 Prime Facts: ‘ Australia ’ s Refugee Policy’ , Australian Prime Ministers Centre, http://static.moadoph.gov.au/ophgovau/media/images/apmc/docs/81-Refugee s.pdf . 25 Phil Robertson, “ Refugee-Dumping Deal ” in ‘ A Cambodian Solution ’ featured in The Economist, 2014, http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2014/08/australia-s-asylum-seekers . 26 Richard Parsons, ‘ Assessing the economic contribution of refugees in Australia ’ in A review of Literature, June 2013, p. 18. 8
Offshore Processing: The Real issue
Government
can
be
seen
as
multidimensional.
As
Australia
participates in the war on terror abroad, which has displaced millions of people, it sounds the alarm at home. Refugees desperately fleeing their homes in the Middle-East are deterred from reaching Australian shores as the Government exercises its sovereign right to exclude and gathers support by exploiting the ‘terror threat’ and some people’s deeply rooted racial prejudice against Muslims. Ultimately, it is regrettable for a country as prosperous as Australia, capable of creating sustainability both economically and culturally, to ignore evidence showcasing how hosting refugees can greatly benefit all within a mere few years, as a result of ‘dark age’ bigotry founded on cruel mistakes and false pride. It remains debatable whether or not this theory undeniably describes the force by which this chain of events has come to be. It may be the case that further education and public awareness of currently available evidence is bringing to light the possible truth of its investigation.
Amine Allali, Essay: GOVT1104 , October 2015
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Offshore Processing: The Real issue
Bibliography 4 Myths and Facts about Refugees and Asylum Seekers Refugee Council of Australia, (2010), https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/docs/news&events/rw/2010/4 %20-%20Myths%20and%20facts%20about%20refugees%20and%20a sylum%20seekers%202010.pdf Asylum Seekers, Refugees and human rights: Snapshot Report 2013 Australian Human Rights Commission, 2013, https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/asylum-seekers-and -refugees/publications/asylum-seekers-refugees-and-human-rig hts-snapshot Australia ’ s Refugee Policy Prime Facts, Australian Prime Ministers Centre, Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House. http://static.moadoph.gov.au/ophgovau/media/images/apmc/do cs/81-Refugees.pdf Department of Immigration and Citizenship Annual Report 2008-09, http://www.immi.gov.au/about/reports/annual/200809/html/; see Section 1.2.2. Graeme Hugo ‘Australian Immigration Policy: The Significance of the Events of September 11 ’ International Migration Review , Vol. 36. No. 1, Spring 2002, pp/ 37-40. The Centre for Migration Studies of New York, Inc. J Phillips & H Spinks Boat arrivals in Australia: a quick guide to the statistics Research Paper, Parliamentary Library, Parliament of Australia (2014) p. 2. J Phillips ‘ Asylum Seekers and refugees: What are the facts? ’ in Parliamentary Library, 14 January 201, p. 3. K. Gelber and M. McDonald ‘Ethics and Exclusion: Representation of Sovereignty in Australia ’ s Approach to Asylum Seekers’ ,R eview of International Studies , Vol. 32, No. 2, April 2006, pp. 269-289. Cambridge University Press. M Welch Quiet Constructions in the War on Terror: Subjecting Asylum Seekers to Un necessary Detention ’ in Social Justice, Vol. 31, No. 1/2 (95-96), Resisting Militarism and Globalised Punishment (2004), pp.113-129. Paula Mathewson ‘ How we ’ re exploiting the terrorism threat’ on ABC News (29/09/2014), 10
Offshore Processing: The Real issue
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-29/matthewson-how-wereexploiting-the-terrorism-threat/5775340 . Richard Parsons ‘Assessing the economic contribution of refugees in Australia ’ in A review of Literature, June 2013, p. 18. The Economist “A Cambodian solution ” , August 20th 2014, http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2014/08/australia-s-as ylum-seekers UNHCR S Subregional operations profile - Northern, Western, Central and Southern Europe, 2015
http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e48e5f6.html# . United Nations (1951) Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/refugees.htm; see Article 1F.
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