tag:theconversation.com,2011:/columns/asylum-seeker-expert-panel-20Asylum seeker expert panel – The Conversation2012-08-01T02:14:40Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/85502012-08-01T02:14:40Z2012-08-01T02:14:40ZRefugee intake starts in the region: making a difference in regional burden sharing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13690/original/6fppspsx-1343783118.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">DIAC Images</span> </figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13689/original/jvbcv94s-1343782271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13689/original/jvbcv94s-1343782271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13689/original/jvbcv94s-1343782271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13689/original/jvbcv94s-1343782271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13689/original/jvbcv94s-1343782271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13689/original/jvbcv94s-1343782271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13689/original/jvbcv94s-1343782271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Regional crises in countries such as Sri Lanka should be our focus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Sri Lanka Army Media Unit</span></span>
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<p>One of the debates that has escaped scrutiny since Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers last month is what our annual refugee intake should actually look like. </p>
<p>I acknowledge this is potentially controversial in terms of racial profiling and minimising the tragedy of the numbers displaced from some conflicts - such as in the Democratic Republic of Congo - for ones that are closer to our regional interests but less critical in terms of humanitarian emergency - such as the Sri Lankan civil war of 2008. </p>
<p>But for an interim period, as we develop long-term approaches towards burden sharing and protection obligations, priority should be given to the urgent resettlement of asylum seekers already within our region, particularly populations located in transit countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.</p>
<h2>Pulling our weight in the region</h2>
<p>Based on an analysis of the annual reports published by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship since 1997 (see the table below, click on the image to englarge), the Australian government has not historically prioritised refugees from within the Asian region. </p>
<p>In 2010 Asia was first preference for intake scheme for the first time – but the percentages between Asia, Middle East and Africa intakes were within 2-5% - which is not a great difference for 6000 visas. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13675/original/7b49797b-1343715913.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13675/original/7b49797b-1343715913.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13675/original/7b49797b-1343715913.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=168&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13675/original/7b49797b-1343715913.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=168&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13675/original/7b49797b-1343715913.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=168&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13675/original/7b49797b-1343715913.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13675/original/7b49797b-1343715913.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13675/original/7b49797b-1343715913.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Australia’s refuge and humanitarian intake, unauthorised boat arrivals and priority resettlement 1997-2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Department of Immigration Annual Reports; UNHCR Statistical Online Population Database</span></span>
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<p>Since the end of the Indochinese refugee crisis, and in particular the conclusion of the <a href="http://www.en.refugeelawreader.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&lang=en&gid=217">1989 Comprehensive Plan of Action</a> (CPA) in response to this crisis, the Australian government has given the majority of refugee places to asylum seekers from the former Yugoslavia, the Middle East and Africa. </p>
<p>Protracted conflicts within Asia such as the civil wars in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar (which contributes to the largest cause of population flows within the region) have not been a resettlement priority for the Australian government. </p>
<p>As a result, Australia’s refugee intake has not had enough of an impact on the regional problem.</p>
<h2>Changing priorities</h2>
<p>Prioritising the resettlement of those already within the region would reduce the regional burden significantly, therefore reducing the number of asylum seekers who take to boats and increased good will within the region. This new priority would result in a very significant decrease of the relevant populations of concern in Malaysia and Indonesia without increasing overall refugee intake. The effects could be further pronounced by a modest additional increase to the intake level.</p>
<p>Prioritising refugees from Asia should be dependent on status determination by the UNHCR. If necessary, the Australian government could deploy immigration officials to transit countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia to assist with the processing in the short term. </p>
<p>Given the current severe unrest in the Middle East (and this is a high source region for those seeking asylum by authorised boat entry into Australia), this region should retain second preference for the proportion of refugee visas. </p>
<p>A longer-term strategy would be to then increase Australia’s humanitarian intake overall which – as the table demonstrates - has maintained static growth since the mid-1990s. A high proportion should be dedicated to regional resettlement, then humanitarian resettlement for regions beyond our own, for example Central and East Africa. The present 50:50 proportion of refugee visas and Special Humanitarian Visas could be shifted to 70:30 to accommodate the needs of our region and beyond.</p>
<h2>Heading off objections</h2>
<p>There are three potential objections to this scheme.</p>
<p>First, it could be argued that the scheme will cause an increase in the number of people arriving in the region to seek refugee status declaration. </p>
<p>In this case, there is the option of providing a “cut-off date” for which this resettlement scheme will apply and broadly publicise its application. This was done during the 1989 CPA – the source and transit countries were given assistance to report through print and radio the dangers of boat passage and the <em>prima facie</em> refugee cut off date. </p>
<p>There is an additional option of providing temporary protection visas rather than permanent residency visas. Such visas need not be <a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-evidence-that-asylum-seeker-deterrence-policy-works-8367">deterrent focused</a>, but may instead be oriented towards accommodating the potential for return to source country once peace (and the risk of not facing death, torture or cruel treatment) is established. </p>
<p>There is also an option <a href="https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&doctype=cite&docid=10+Harv.+Hum.+Rts.+J.+115&key=c06cca62501c91f600382880e50f86d8">presented by scholars s</a>uch as James Hathaway and R. Alexander Neve (<a href="http://www.law.fsu.edu/journals/transnational/vol14_1/smith.pdf">not without objections</a>) for states such as Australia to fund and assist with the provision of temporary protection visas in countries that are in close proximity to the source country or in the region.</p>
<p>Second, there will be the claim that transit and other resettlement countries will not cooperate. </p>
<p>The broader response to asylum seeking within the region needs to shift from criminal deterrence to development assistance. By pursuing the problem from a whole of government perspective, including development policy, the policy provides a “win-win” for Australian and transit countries. </p>
<p>A development focus was a core part of the <a href="http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/justice_freedom_security/free_movement_of_persons_asylum_immigration/l33222_en.htm">European Union’s Regional Refugee Protection</a> program for countries hosting large numbers of refugees in the African region, which has had success in reducing the number of people seeking asylum beyond first transit country. </p>
<p>Regional resistance to international refugee law is grounded in development and social cohesion concerns. These concerns could be addressed with giving assistance to transit countries and by seeing resettlement in Asia as a development problem for which further assistance could be provided.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13690/original/6fppspsx-1343783118.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13690/original/6fppspsx-1343783118.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13690/original/6fppspsx-1343783118.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13690/original/6fppspsx-1343783118.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13690/original/6fppspsx-1343783118.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13690/original/6fppspsx-1343783118.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13690/original/6fppspsx-1343783118.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Regional collaboration must be at the heart of a new approach to asylum seekers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DIAC Images</span></span>
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<p>Third, there will be criticism that the processing task will be immense. </p>
<p>The UNHCR in Kuala Lumpur has 130 professional staff to deal with 80,000 people of concern to their office. </p>
<p>The UNHCR Jakarta office has a significantly smaller population of concern with 5,000 registered refugees and approximately that same number of others of concern, but much fewer professional staff than in Malaysia. The result is that the refugee status determination process is excruciatingly slow in both countries, which proves disheartening for many, creating the desperation that pushes people to the people smugglers. </p>
<p>A comprehensive plan should therefore involve investing in more UNHCR staff in the region, providing Australian officials to assist with processing, and regularly training staff within transit countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia in asylum processing. All are options that benefit short-term and long-term goals for burden sharing in the region. </p>
<hr>
<p>Read the rest of The Conversation’s asylum seeker coverage:</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-and-australia-the-evidence-8173">Asylum seekers and Australia: the evidence</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversation-panel-on-asylum-seekers-meet-the-experts-8319">The Conversation panel on asylum seekers: meet the experts</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-global-refugee-populations-1975-2010-8443">Infographic: global refugee populations 1975-2010</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-malaysia-the-good-the-bad-and-the-unexpected-8532">Refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia: the good, the bad and the unexpected</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-the-australian-public-really-think-about-asylum-seekers-8522">What does the Australian public really think about asylum seekers?</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/resettling-refugees-the-evidence-supports-increasing-our-intake-8479">Resettling refugees: the evidence supports increasing our intake</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-role-does-australia-play-in-accepting-the-worlds-refugees-8328">What role does Australia play in accepting the world’s refugees?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-australias-boat-people-and-why-dont-they-get-on-planes-8361">Who are Australia’s ‘boat people’, and why don’t they get on planes?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/uncomfortable-truths-busting-the-top-three-asylum-seeker-myths-8418">Uncomfortable truths: busting the top three asylum seeker myths</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-evidence-that-asylum-seeker-deterrence-policy-works-8367">There’s no evidence that asylum seeker deterrence policy works</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-more-to-regional-collaboration-than-the-malaysia-arrangement-8389">There’s more to regional collaboration than the Malaysia Arrangement</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-immigration-policy-harms-asylum-seekers-mental-health-8358">How immigration policy harms asylum seekers’ mental health</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-in-indonesia-why-do-they-get-on-boats-8334">Asylum seekers in Indonesia: why do they get on boats?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-deaths-at-sea-asking-the-experts-on-asylum-seekers-8315">Preventing deaths at sea: asking the experts on asylum seekers</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8550/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
One of the debates that has escaped scrutiny since Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers last month is what our annual refugee intake should actually look like. I acknowledge…Sara Davies, ARC Future Fellow, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/85322012-07-31T04:09:52Z2012-07-31T04:09:52ZRefugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia: the good, the bad and the unexpected<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13617/original/g9ghz9vb-1343634997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">original</span> </figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13617/original/g9ghz9vb-1343634997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13617/original/g9ghz9vb-1343634997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13617/original/g9ghz9vb-1343634997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13617/original/g9ghz9vb-1343634997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13617/original/g9ghz9vb-1343634997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13617/original/g9ghz9vb-1343634997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13617/original/g9ghz9vb-1343634997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The majority of refugees in Malaysia are from Myanmar.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Ahmad Yusni</span></span>
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<p>Many so-called “irregular migrants” who end up on boats bound for Australia have come through Malaysia at some stage of their odyssey to claim asylum and protection.</p>
<p>Protection is vital for people fleeing persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. Malaysia offers some protection for those seeking asylum.</p>
<p>After the fall of Saigon in 1975, Vietnamese boat people started to arrive in Malaysia. Soon they were arriving in large numbers and Malaysia became the temporary home to more than 250,000 of them. But Malaysia was only willing to act as an offshore processing entity as it deemed the influx of such vast numbers and their ethnic make-up (many were ethnic Chinese) as problematic.</p>
<p>Under the <a href="http://www.en.refugeelawreader.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&lang=en&gid=217">Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indochinese Refugees</a> of 1989, Malaysia became a first protection space for these boat people. They were housed in camps and had to wait several years for a durable solution that usually meant resettlement in a third country.</p>
<p>In 2005, the last Vietnamese refugee left Malaysia and was voluntarily repatriated to Vietnam after spending more than 20 years in Malaysia. He had spent most of this time in camps and after the closure of the Sungai Besi camp in 1996 lived amongst the community as an illegal immigrant.</p>
<p>Malaysia, like most other Southeast Asian countries, has not signed the refugee convention and protocol and therefore asylum seekers and refugees are deemed to be illegal immigrants by law, although the UNHCR continually receives assurances that refugees with UNHCR papers will not be arrested by authorities. This often does not trickle down to enforcement staff on the ground and transgressions are occasionally reported.</p>
<p>The situation has improved over the past two years with a decrease in raids and less overt rent-seeking on the part of the authorities. Nevertheless, life for refugees and asylum seekers remains tough in Malaysia, as they generally receive no direct financial support for housing and food from the UNHCR. Thus they must find illegal work to support themselves and their families.</p>
<p>This puts them at risk of daily detection and imprisonment or at least a variety of rent-seeking mechanisms, such as authorities asking for “financial contributions”. This form of daily harassment is commonplace and many refugees factor this into their daily travels to and from work. Others work for employers that also provide them with makeshift housing where they work long hours for minimal pay. Many receive just $200-300 a month to work as mechanics, gardeners or on plantations.</p>
<p>But these are the lucky ones. Life is much worse for those who cannot find work. Most vulnerable are smaller refugee communities, for whom finding paid work is hardest. Somali, Sudanese and other African refugees in particular face hardship, often relying on family and friends resettled to the West for survival.</p>
<p>Some report racism from potential employers and landlords that makes even finding a place to live difficult. In desperate situations such as these, people quickly lose all hope for a better future resulting in severe mental health issues.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.healthequityinitiative.org/">Health Equity Initiative</a>, a Malaysian NGO working with refugees on mental health issues, issued a report in 2010 titled “<a href="http://refugeerightsasiapacific.org/pdf/Afghan_RNA_Exec_Summary.pdf">Between a rock and a hard place</a>”. It paints a damning picture of the situation for Afghan refugees in Malaysia.</p>
<p>They are trapped in an existence neither here nor there, where their children have minimal access to education, the parents have no work rights and their hope for a better future is on indefinite hold.</p>
<p>It is desperate situations such as these that push some to contemplate the treacherous journey by boat to Australia. But this is only the smallest part of the story. There are around 100,000 <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e4884c6&submit=GO">asylum seekers and refugees</a> registered with UNHCR in Malaysia, and an additional tens of thousands of asylum seekers outside of UNHCR purview.</p>
<p>The vast majority of them have found some limited protection in Malaysia, many have work and some access to community run schools and health centres. In 2011, UNHCR <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/pages/4a16b1676.html">resettled</a> 8,370 refugees to third countries, a number that will increase this year. There clearly is hope for some and they are making the best of the situation.</p>
<p>Refugees from Myanmar, who are the vast majority of refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia, are very well organised, maintain community organisations and provide an array of services in combination with local NGOs. This is much harder for smaller refugee communities, which do not have the resources, cultural or religious support networks and critical mass of leaders and organisers at their disposal.</p>
<p>Thus refugee communities in Malaysia have varied experiences, which will influence their responses to long waiting times for resettlement, educational and work opportunities. The diversity of these experiences gets lost when we focus on the very limited amount of boat people arriving in Australian waters.</p>
<p>The situation in Malaysia makes it paramount to respond to the people dying on their way here through a regional lens that incorporates an understanding of the pressures in source, transit and destination countries.</p>
<hr>
<p>Read the rest of The Conversation’s asylum seeker coverage:</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-and-australia-the-evidence-8173">Asylum seekers and Australia: the evidence</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversation-panel-on-asylum-seekers-meet-the-experts-8319">The Conversation panel on asylum seekers: meet the experts</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-global-refugee-populations-1975-2010-8443">Infographic: global refugee populations 1975-2010</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugee-intake-starts-in-the-region-making-a-difference-in-regional-burden-sharing-8550">Refugee intake starts in the region: making a difference in regional burden sharing</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-the-australian-public-really-think-about-asylum-seekers-8522">What does the Australian public really think about asylum seekers?</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/resettling-refugees-the-evidence-supports-increasing-our-intake-8479">Resettling refugees: the evidence supports increasing our intake</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-role-does-australia-play-in-accepting-the-worlds-refugees-8328">What role does Australia play in accepting the world’s refugees?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-australias-boat-people-and-why-dont-they-get-on-planes-8361">Who are Australia’s ‘boat people’, and why don’t they get on planes?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/uncomfortable-truths-busting-the-top-three-asylum-seeker-myths-8418">Uncomfortable truths: busting the top three asylum seeker myths</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-evidence-that-asylum-seeker-deterrence-policy-works-8367">There’s no evidence that asylum seeker deterrence policy works</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-more-to-regional-collaboration-than-the-malaysia-arrangement-8389">There’s more to regional collaboration than the Malaysia Arrangement</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-immigration-policy-harms-asylum-seekers-mental-health-8358">How immigration policy harms asylum seekers’ mental health</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-in-indonesia-why-do-they-get-on-boats-8334">Asylum seekers in Indonesia: why do they get on boats?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-deaths-at-sea-asking-the-experts-on-asylum-seekers-8315">Preventing deaths at sea: asking the experts on asylum seekers</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8532/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Many so-called “irregular migrants” who end up on boats bound for Australia have come through Malaysia at some stage of their odyssey to claim asylum and protection. Protection is vital for people fleeing…Gerhard Hoffstaedter, Lecturer in Anthropology, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/85222012-07-30T07:36:40Z2012-07-30T07:36:40ZWhat does the Australian public really think about asylum seekers?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13595/original/xhwsg5kd-1343619846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">original</span> </figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13595/original/xhwsg5kd-1343619846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13595/original/xhwsg5kd-1343619846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13595/original/xhwsg5kd-1343619846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13595/original/xhwsg5kd-1343619846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13595/original/xhwsg5kd-1343619846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13595/original/xhwsg5kd-1343619846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13595/original/xhwsg5kd-1343619846.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Australian public trusts the Coalition more than the government on asylum seekers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Rebecca Le May</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We live in a culture in which the media frequently and prominently uses opinion polls, with findings presented as factual and unambiguous. In reality, interpretation is beset with difficulty, as illustrated by recent surveys on asylum.</p>
<p>The June parliamentary debate, following record boat arrivals and loss of life at sea, led to surveys conducted for the major dailies. Reporting a Nielsen poll on 2 July, The Age <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/most-blame-government-for-boat-people-deadlock-20120701-21b3t.html">headlined</a> “Most blame government for boat people deadlock”. Almost a week later, Newspoll for the Australian produced a <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/boats-deadlock-all-sides-damned/story-fn9hm1gu-1226422935605">different result</a>: “All sides damned”.</p>
<p>The failure to consider inconsistent findings, or to explain the trend of opinion, is typical of media discussion of polling on issues other than the standing of political parties and their leaders, which are tracked almost weekly from one election to the next.</p>
<p>Yet considering the record of polling on an issue such as asylum provides an important insight into public opinion, an insight that informs political strategy in Canberra but rarely finds its way into the media, despite the almost blanket coverage of boat arrivals and public debate.</p>
<p>So what do the polls say?</p>
<p>Surveys provide four major findings on public attitudes on asylum.</p>
<p>First, there is a large measure of confusion. As many as one in five respondents report uncertainty in a number of surveys. In such a context, minor change in the wording of questions can produce significant change in responses.</p>
<p>Second, while one part of the population is uncertain or confused, a larger segment holds strong and entrenched views. </p>
<p>Scanlon Foundation surveys conducted in <a href="http://arts.monash.edu/mapping-population/--documents/mapping-social-cohesion-summary-report-2010.pdf">2010</a> and <a href="http://arts.monash.edu/mapping-population/--documents/mapping-social-cohesion-summary-report-2011.pdf">2011</a> asked for views on the best policy for dealing with asylum seekers and presented four options. In 2011, 35% favoured turning back boats or detention of arrivals and deportation, while only 22% favoured eligibility for permanent settlement. This pattern of response is similar to that obtained in 2010.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/refugees-are-boat-people-to-most-un-survey-finds-20120617-20ide.html">United Nations Refugee Agency survey</a> conducted in Australia in April-May asked with regard to boat arrivals “whether the way they arrive makes you more or less sympathetic towards them”; 32% responded “much less sympathetic”, only 8% responded “much more sympathetic”.</p>
<p>In July <a href="http://essentialvision.com.au/too-soft-or-too-tough-on-asylum-seekers">Essential Research asked</a> “Do you think the Federal Labor Government is too tough or too soft on asylum seekers or is it taking the right approach?” 12% answered “too tough”, 11% chose “right approach”, while 60% indicated “too soft”.</p>
<p>The consistent element in these results is that those who hold strong negative views on asylum seekers outnumber the strong positive, probably by at least two to one.</p>
<p>Third, and consistent with this assessment, when asked “Which party is best to handle the asylum issue?” the largest proportion prefer the Coalition.</p>
<p>In July 2012 Newspoll found <a href="http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2012/07/09/newspoll-and-essential-research-56-44-to-coalition-2/?wpmp_switcher=mobile&comments=1200">37% in agreement</a> that the Coalition would “best handle” asylum seekers, 17% Labor and 7% Greens.</p>
<p>Essential Research in June 2012 <a href="http://essentialvision.com.au/party-trust-to-handle-important-election-issues-2">asked</a> “which party would you trust most to handle” 15 specified issues. For “treatment of asylum seekers” it obtained 36% for Liberal and 16% for Labor, almost the same proportions as Newspoll, and a higher 13% for the Greens.</p>
<p>Fourth, there is evidence of growing disenchantment with all sides of politics.</p>
<p>In the first week of July <a href="http://essentialvision.com.au/asylum-seeker-debate">Essential Research asked</a> if “politicians are genuinely concerned about the welfare of asylum seekers or are they just playing politics?” Only 11% considered the politicians “genuinely concerned”, a very high 78% that they were “just playing politics”. There was little difference by party alignment, with 16% Labor supporters answering “genuinely concerned”, 13% Coalition and 7% Greens.</p>
<p>Prior to the formulation of the so-called Malaysia Solution, Labor was vulnerable to the charge that it had no policy. Even though processing in Malaysia was ruled illegal by the High Court, there is a perception that parliament has the power to end the impasse. Now when the opposition accuses the government of failure on asylum, Labor’s immediate response is to blame the opposition for blocking legislation.</p>
<p>This approach may have partly undermined the legitimacy of the Coalition on asylum. </p>
<p>But that strategy, rather than increasing the popularity of Labor, seems to have further fuelled negative assessment of all politicians.</p>
<hr>
<p>Read the rest of The Conversation’s asylum seeker coverage:</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-and-australia-the-evidence-8173">Asylum seekers and Australia: the evidence</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversation-panel-on-asylum-seekers-meet-the-experts-8319">The Conversation panel on asylum seekers: meet the experts</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-global-refugee-populations-1975-2010-8443">Infographic: global refugee populations 1975-2010</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugee-intake-starts-in-the-region-making-a-difference-in-regional-burden-sharing-8550">Refugee intake starts in the region: making a difference in regional burden sharing</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-malaysia-the-good-the-bad-and-the-unexpected-8532">Refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia: the good, the bad and the unexpected</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/resettling-refugees-the-evidence-supports-increasing-our-intake-8479">Resettling refugees: the evidence supports increasing our intake</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-role-does-australia-play-in-accepting-the-worlds-refugees-8328">What role does Australia play in accepting the world’s refugees?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-australias-boat-people-and-why-dont-they-get-on-planes-8361">Who are Australia’s ‘boat people’, and why don’t they get on planes?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/uncomfortable-truths-busting-the-top-three-asylum-seeker-myths-8418">Uncomfortable truths: busting the top three asylum seeker myths</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-evidence-that-asylum-seeker-deterrence-policy-works-8367">There’s no evidence that asylum seeker deterrence policy works</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-more-to-regional-collaboration-than-the-malaysia-arrangement-8389">There’s more to regional collaboration than the Malaysia Arrangement</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-immigration-policy-harms-asylum-seekers-mental-health-8358">How immigration policy harms asylum seekers’ mental health</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-in-indonesia-why-do-they-get-on-boats-8334">Asylum seekers in Indonesia: why do they get on boats?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-deaths-at-sea-asking-the-experts-on-asylum-seekers-8315">Preventing deaths at sea: asking the experts on asylum seekers</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8522/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
We live in a culture in which the media frequently and prominently uses opinion polls, with findings presented as factual and unambiguous. In reality, interpretation is beset with difficulty, as illustrated…Andrew Markus, Pratt Foundation Research Chair of Jewish Civilisation, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/84792012-07-26T20:11:17Z2012-07-26T20:11:17ZResettling refugees: the evidence supports increasing our intake<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13474/original/gyvcz9j5-1343285017.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">original</span> </figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13474/original/gyvcz9j5-1343285017.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13474/original/gyvcz9j5-1343285017.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13474/original/gyvcz9j5-1343285017.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13474/original/gyvcz9j5-1343285017.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13474/original/gyvcz9j5-1343285017.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13474/original/gyvcz9j5-1343285017.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13474/original/gyvcz9j5-1343285017.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Refugees to Australia make a meaningful contribution to society. It’s time to take more.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Julian Smith</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Increasing our <a href="http://www.immi.gov.au/visas/humanitarian/">humanitarian settlement</a> intake would help untangle the policy knot around irregular migration to Australia. </p>
<p>Over the past decade, <a href="http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/60refugee.htm">humanitarian visas have been capped</a> at about 13,500 per year. This quota includes off shore refugees and those granted visas under the Special Humanitarian Program (onshore convention refugees and their families regardless of mode of arrival, family members of resettled refugees and other persons living in situations of extreme discrimination). The quota cap within the humanitarian stream is problematic not least because of the increasing difficulties experienced by refugee settlers in sponsoring family members to join them.</p>
<p>By substantially increasing its humanitarian intake, Australia would lessen the burden on the two transit countries in our region, Indonesia and Malaysia, and thereby increase the chances for a regional humanitarian solution. </p>
<p>A substantial increase would reduce the need for irregular migrants to board unseaworthy vessels and ease the tensions arising from perceived competition for places between offshore convention refugees and the Special Humanitarian Program stream. Such an increase would also make family reunion a more realistic prospect for refugee settlers. This is important because there is strong evidence that <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/4b167ae59.html">family reunion</a> is a key determinant of successful settlement.</p>
<p>The arguments for increasing our humanitarian intake raise three key issues: Australia’s capacity to support increased numbers of humanitarian settlers; the challenges faced by humanitarian migrants in Australia; and the settlement outcomes for these migrants. </p>
<p>These issues have been addressed by an impressive body of academic research into <a href="http://apo.org.au/research/resettlement-refugees-australia-bibliography-3rd-rev-ed">refugee settlement in Australia</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.swinburne.edu.au/lss/staff/view.php?who=kneumann&unit=isr">Klaus Neumann</a>, <a href="http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2686975">James Jupp</a> and others have documented the history of Australia’s refugee migrants, which total over 700,000 since the end of World War II. There are two key messages we can take from the historical research. </p>
<p>First, Australia has historically been able to settle much larger numbers of humanitarian migrants than it currently does. For example, up until 1952, at a time when Australia’s population was about a third of its current size, about 170,000 migrants arrived under the Displaced Persons scheme. Over the past 30 years, Australia’s largest humanitarian intake was in 1981-82, with close to 22,000 settled in a single year. </p>
<p>Second, each new wave of humanitarian settlers has been met with similar anxieties about whether they will fit in and whether Australia would be able to provide support in the early years. Yet the historical record shows that dire predictions – “there goes the neighbourhood” – have been largely unfounded.</p>
<p>There is a wealth of research on the challenges faced by refugee migrants in Australia. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-immigration-policy-harms-asylum-seekers-mental-health-8358">mental health problems</a> caused by past trauma and loss have been well documented as have the impacts of settlement on their psycho-social wellbeing. Other well documented difficulties include learning English, finding employment, securing affordable housing, negotiating health and social services, dealing with racism and, for young people, successfully achieving their educational aspirations. </p>
<p>A key lesson from this body of research is that on arrival, humanitarian settlers are more disadvantaged than other migrants. But research has also shown that humanitarian settlers arrive with high levels of optimism about their future and high levels of wellbeing despite their traumatic pasts.</p>
<p>A few small-scale longitudinal studies have helped us to get a better picture of refugee settlement. Their findings support a large scale study recently completed by <a href="http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/research/">Graeme Hugo</a>, which analyses the relevant published research, data on first and second generation humanitarian settlers drawn from a range of data bases, and data from a questionnaires and in-depth interviews. </p>
<p>The study found that compared to other migrants, refugee settlers are younger and will spend more of their working lives in Australia thus offsetting the effects of an ageing workforce. Refugee settlers are committed to staying in Australia and there is less “settler loss” compared to other migrants who move on or return to their own countries. </p>
<p>Increasingly, refugee migrants are moving into regional Australia thus bringing social and economic benefits to declining rural towns. Although unemployment is high in the early years, refugee settlers are finding employment. </p>
<p>Over time, economic participation rates are similar to those of the Australian-born population. They are more likely to engage in entrepreneurial activities. Importantly, they retain economic links with their origin countries. </p>
<p>Finally, they are active volunteers both in their own ethnic communities as well as in the wider community. The evidence suggests that over time, refugee settlers overcome the challenges they face in the first years after their arrival, and make important contributions to Australian society.</p>
<p>Overall, the academic research provides us with a sound body of evidence supporting a significant increase in the humanitarian migrant stream. </p>
<p>Increasing our refugee settlement intake is an important part of the larger solution for sorting out the current asylum deadlock. Increasing the humanitarian intake will not be problem-free. But no resolutions to messy social problems are. </p>
<p>We have met these challenges in the past and we can be confident, based on the scholarly evidence, that we have every chance of doing so in the future.</p>
<hr>
<p>Read the rest of The Conversation’s asylum seeker coverage:</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-and-australia-the-evidence-8173">Asylum seekers and Australia: the evidence</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversation-panel-on-asylum-seekers-meet-the-experts-8319">The Conversation panel on asylum seekers: meet the experts</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-global-refugee-populations-1975-2010-8443">Infographic: global refugee populations 1975-2010</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugee-intake-starts-in-the-region-making-a-difference-in-regional-burden-sharing-8550">Refugee intake starts in the region: making a difference in regional burden sharing</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-malaysia-the-good-the-bad-and-the-unexpected-8532">Refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia: the good, the bad and the unexpected</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-the-australian-public-really-think-about-asylum-seekers-8522">What does the Australian public really think about asylum seekers?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-role-does-australia-play-in-accepting-the-worlds-refugees-8328">What role does Australia play in accepting the world’s refugees?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-australias-boat-people-and-why-dont-they-get-on-planes-8361">Who are Australia’s ‘boat people’, and why don’t they get on planes?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/uncomfortable-truths-busting-the-top-three-asylum-seeker-myths-8418">Uncomfortable truths: busting the top three asylum seeker myths</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-evidence-that-asylum-seeker-deterrence-policy-works-8367">There’s no evidence that asylum seeker deterrence policy works</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-more-to-regional-collaboration-than-the-malaysia-arrangement-8389">There’s more to regional collaboration than the Malaysia Arrangement</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-immigration-policy-harms-asylum-seekers-mental-health-8358">How immigration policy harms asylum seekers’ mental health</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-in-indonesia-why-do-they-get-on-boats-8334">Asylum seekers in Indonesia: why do they get on boats?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-deaths-at-sea-asking-the-experts-on-asylum-seekers-8315">Preventing deaths at sea: asking the experts on asylum seekers</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8479/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Increasing our humanitarian settlement intake would help untangle the policy knot around irregular migration to Australia. Over the past decade, humanitarian visas have been capped at about 13,500 per…Sandy Gifford, Prof of Anthropology and Refugee Studies, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/83282012-07-26T06:24:31Z2012-07-26T06:24:31ZWhat role does Australia play in accepting the world’s refugees?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13469/original/d97zytjs-1343280278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">original</span> </figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13469/original/d97zytjs-1343280278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13469/original/d97zytjs-1343280278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13469/original/d97zytjs-1343280278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13469/original/d97zytjs-1343280278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13469/original/d97zytjs-1343280278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13469/original/d97zytjs-1343280278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13469/original/d97zytjs-1343280278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13469/original/d97zytjs-1343280278.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Somalia is among the top three refugee producing nations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Dai Kurokawa</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/4fd6f87f9.html">estimated</a> some 7.1 million refugees were in “a protracted situation” in 2011. The term is used for refugee populations in exile for five or more years. These are people forced to leave their homes by violence and persecution, and then “warehoused” (in the phrase of the US Committee on Refugees) on subsistence rations in isolated camps or communities. Such refugees lack opportunities for work and education, and have no prospect of return home to countries still torn by conflict.</p>
<p>Resettlement to a “third country” is the only hope, but the chances are slim. In 2011, a total of 79,800 refugees were admitted by 22 resettlement countries, including the USA (51,500), Canada (12,900), Australia (9,200), Sweden (1,900) and Norway (1,300). At the current rate, it would take more than 70 years to resettle all the 7.1 million refugees in protracted exile – assuming that no new refugees arrived in that time. A 70-year queue is not a realistic life prospect – it is not a queue at all.</p>
<p>The inability of the international community to provide realistic solutions to protracted refugee situations is the root cause of asylum-seeker movements. Refugees with resources – whether in the form of money, skills or networks with people who have made it to safety – will do anything to get out of the new gulag of despair. People are so desperate that they prefer the risk of death on the ocean to a life of limbo and humiliation. </p>
<p>It is the people with the greatest courage, endurance and human resources who make it. Australia could benefit from these qualities – as we have done in the past: refugees have made major contributions to our economy and society since 1945. But instead our authorities treat asylum seekers like criminals and lock them up for years.</p>
<p>The global total of refugees recognised by UNHCR in 2011 was <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/pages/4fd9a0676.html">15.2 million</a>. Refugees come from areas hit by war, violence and chaos. The world’s top refugee-producing countries in 2010 were Afghanistan (2.7 million), Iraq (1.4 million), Somalia (1.1 million), Sudan (500,000), Democratic Republic of Congo (491,500), Myanmar (Burma – 416,000), Colombia (395,500), Vietnam (337,800), Eritrea (252,000) and China (205,400). The two top refugee-producers were countries that had experienced western invasions as part of the “war on terror”. These UNHCR figures do not include the <a href="http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=253">4.8 million Palestinian refugees</a>, who still constitute the world’s largest exile population. Broader UN figures on refugees by region are given below.</p>
<p><strong>Estimated number of refugees by major area, 1990-2010</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13468/original/2345ftgk-1343279353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13468/original/2345ftgk-1343279353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13468/original/2345ftgk-1343279353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13468/original/2345ftgk-1343279353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13468/original/2345ftgk-1343279353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13468/original/2345ftgk-1343279353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13468/original/2345ftgk-1343279353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13468/original/2345ftgk-1343279353.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Estimated number of refugees is estimated mid-year refugee population. The estimates are based on data obtained from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">UNDESA, 2009</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Refugee flows are generated in regions of poverty and conflict, and mostly remain within these regions.</p>
<p>Yet since the 1980s, Western Europe, North America and Australia have been gripped by panic about asylum. </p>
<p>Australia’s <a href="http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/60refugee.htm">total Humanitarian Program</a> of 13,799 persons in 2010-11 included 5998 refugees (resettled in cooperation with UNHCR) and 2973 offshore Special Humanitarian entrants (often refugees with relatives already in Australia). </p>
<p>Just 4828 onshore applicants (people arriving by plane or boat and the applying for asylum) were granted refugee status in Australia in 2010-11. </p>
<p>This was 0.6% of the global total of asylum seekers. Australia is the only country in the world that links onshore asylum grants to its resettlement program: for every boat person recognised, a refugee in a camp is struck off the list.</p>
<p>This is perhaps unsurprising from a country in which both the Immigration Minister and opposition immigration spokesman still brand people who risk their lives to come to Australia by boat as “queue jumpers”.</p>
<hr>
<p>Read the rest of The Conversation’s asylum seeker coverage:</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-and-australia-the-evidence-8173">Asylum seekers and Australia: the evidence</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversation-panel-on-asylum-seekers-meet-the-experts-8319">The Conversation panel on asylum seekers: meet the experts</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-global-refugee-populations-1975-2010-8443">Infographic: global refugee populations 1975-2010</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugee-intake-starts-in-the-region-making-a-difference-in-regional-burden-sharing-8550">Refugee intake starts in the region: making a difference in regional burden sharing</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-malaysia-the-good-the-bad-and-the-unexpected-8532">Refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia: the good, the bad and the unexpected</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-the-australian-public-really-think-about-asylum-seekers-8522">What does the Australian public really think about asylum seekers?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/resettling-refugees-the-evidence-supports-increasing-our-intake-8479">Resettling refugees: the evidence supports increasing our intake</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-australias-boat-people-and-why-dont-they-get-on-planes-8361">Who are Australia’s ‘boat people’, and why don’t they get on planes?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/uncomfortable-truths-busting-the-top-three-asylum-seeker-myths-8418">Uncomfortable truths: busting the top three asylum seeker myths</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-evidence-that-asylum-seeker-deterrence-policy-works-8367">There’s no evidence that asylum seeker deterrence policy works</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-more-to-regional-collaboration-than-the-malaysia-arrangement-8389">There’s more to regional collaboration than the Malaysia Arrangement</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-immigration-policy-harms-asylum-seekers-mental-health-8358">How immigration policy harms asylum seekers’ mental health</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-in-indonesia-why-do-they-get-on-boats-8334">Asylum seekers in Indonesia: why do they get on boats?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-deaths-at-sea-asking-the-experts-on-asylum-seekers-8315">Preventing deaths at sea: asking the experts on asylum seekers</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8328/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated some 7.1 million refugees were in “a protracted situation” in 2011. The term is used for refugee populations in exile for five or more…Stephen Castles, Research Chair in sociology, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/83612012-07-25T02:53:12Z2012-07-25T02:53:12ZWho are Australia’s ‘boat people’, and why don’t they get on planes?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13317/original/2v56mff7-1343091273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">original</span> </figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13317/original/2v56mff7-1343091273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13317/original/2v56mff7-1343091273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13317/original/2v56mff7-1343091273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13317/original/2v56mff7-1343091273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13317/original/2v56mff7-1343091273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13317/original/2v56mff7-1343091273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13317/original/2v56mff7-1343091273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are 400,000 refugees in Jordan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Jamal Nasrallah</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Around the world, refugees from civil war are likely to flee first to the neighbouring countries across their land borders. </p>
<p>Many stay there, usually wasting their lives in camps, becoming ever more depressed, especially for their children who fled with them or were born in the camps, as years pass and the likelihood of returning home fades away. </p>
<p>Besieged as some Australians feel themselves to be by “boat people”, most refugees by far are hosted in poor countries. Currently there are half a million refugees in <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e483a16&submit=GO">Kenya</a>, mostly from South Sudan and Somalia, and 1.7 million in <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e487016&submit=GO">Pakistan</a>, most of them Afghani. </p>
<p>Worldwide, UNHCR figures for 2011 show 2.7 million refugees from <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e486eb6&submit=GO">Afghanistan</a> alone, with a million in <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e486f96&submit=GO">Iran</a>. In contrast there were just <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e487af6&submit=GO#">23,434 refugees in Australia</a> in 2011 - about a quarter of the number in the United Kingdom. </p>
<p>Globally, <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e486426&submit=GO">Iraqi</a> refugees numbered 1.4 million in 2011, with the biggest concentration being in Syria. Many of them must now feel that they have jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Much safer were the 400,000 in <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e486566&submit=GO">Jordan</a>. <a href="http://apps.who.int/globalatlas/dataQuery/reportData.asp?rptType=1">Just 3,085 were in Australia</a> compared to 15,652 in the United Kingdom. </p>
<p>Afghanis and Iraqis are highly significant to Australia, both because they are among the top three source countries for “boat people” (Iran being the third) and because Australian troops have been engaged in the very wars that triggered these refugee flows. </p>
<p>While some Australians may fear being overrun by boat people, comparative figures show “girt by sea” really is a defence. We are thus largely spared on our island continent, even in an age of mass air travel.</p>
<p>National pride might be chastened to realise how few of those who find themselves approaching Christmas Island actually set out with a specific vision of Australia as their promised land. </p>
<p>Among developed countries, Australia is one of the least favoured destinations for asylum seekers, its one advantage being that it offers a physically warm climate. Asylum seekers who have any choice as to their ultimate destination prefer the United States, Canada or Europe before Australia. </p>
<p>Thus the European Union received <a href="http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Asylum_statistics">more than a quarter of a million</a> asylum applications in 2010, 30% of them minors and 5% unaccompanied minors. Only a quarter of European first instance asylum request decisions result in positive outcomes – suggesting that those boat people who reach Australia, for whom the rate is 74%, constitute a more deserving and desperate category. (The rate for those arriving by plane is a lower 51%, largely reflecting the fact that only 42% of the numerous Chinese applicants are granted protection visas).</p>
<p>Some refugees retain access to limited financial resources. A whole extended family may contribute, even selling the land on which their livelihood depends, to get one young man away from the risk of conscription, persecution and imprisonment. While there are places to which such refugees may buy plane tickets, these are not in countries where they can settle for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p>The Department of Immigration and Citizenship now publishes <a href="http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/asylum/">quarterly tables</a> of asylum statistics divided between irregular maritime arrivals (IMA) and non-IMA. </p>
<p>The Orwellian appellation “non-IMA” essentially refers to those individuals who are able to secure time-limited visas to come to Australia as tourists or students but who, once arrived in Australia by plane, then claim asylum. Boat people are unable to choose to be “plane people”, because they are stateless, or hold passports Australia will not stamp even with short-term visas. Airlines simply will not carry passengers without visas into Australia because they will have to return them to the country of departure and risk being fined for having brought them here.</p>
<p>As the <a href="http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/asylum/">DIAC statistics</a> clearly show, IMA and non-IMA come from different countries (the figures which follow are for 2010-11). </p>
<p>The political debate is almost entirely confined to the boat people (IMA) who numbered 5,175 as compared to the greater number of “plane people” (non-IMA) at 6,316. These are mainly citizens of China (1,122), India (555), Pakistan (547) and Egypt (427). Boat people are mostly citizens of Afghanistan (1,612), Iran (1,549), Iraq (542) and Sri Lanka (362) or they are stateless (895).</p>
<p>These DIAC statistics are very limited. They do not personalise the asylum seekers even to the extent of providing information on their sex or age, let alone religion, ethnicity or education. </p>
<p>Last week, Radio Australia <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-19/an-another-boat-intercepted-from-indonesia/4139892">reported a brief item</a> about Indonesian police saying that they had intercepted more than 70 asylum seekers intending to board a boat bound for Australia: “Officers say Afghans, Iranians, Sri Lankans and Sudanese people are among those being questioned”. If accurate, the inclusion of Sudanese would mark a new departure, presumably of relatives of Sudanese already in Australia grown desperate at the wait to rejoin their kin.</p>
<p>As Australians we can choose to fear that desperation, or accept its place in a global context of war and persecution, against which Australia should stand providing a humane haven proportionate to our resources.</p>
<hr>
<p>Read the rest of The Conversation’s asylum seeker coverage:</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-and-australia-the-evidence-8173">Asylum seekers and Australia: the evidence</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversation-panel-on-asylum-seekers-meet-the-experts-8319">The Conversation panel on asylum seekers: meet the experts</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-global-refugee-populations-1975-2010-8443">Infographic: global refugee populations 1975-2010</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugee-intake-starts-in-the-region-making-a-difference-in-regional-burden-sharing-8550">Refugee intake starts in the region: making a difference in regional burden sharing</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-malaysia-the-good-the-bad-and-the-unexpected-8532">Refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia: the good, the bad and the unexpected</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-the-australian-public-really-think-about-asylum-seekers-8522">What does the Australian public really think about asylum seekers?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/resettling-refugees-the-evidence-supports-increasing-our-intake-8479">Resettling refugees: the evidence supports increasing our intake</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-role-does-australia-play-in-accepting-the-worlds-refugees-8328">What role does Australia play in accepting the world’s refugees?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/uncomfortable-truths-busting-the-top-three-asylum-seeker-myths-8418">Uncomfortable truths: busting the top three asylum seeker myths</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-evidence-that-asylum-seeker-deterrence-policy-works-8367">There’s no evidence that asylum seeker deterrence policy works</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-more-to-regional-collaboration-than-the-malaysia-arrangement-8389">There’s more to regional collaboration than the Malaysia Arrangement</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-immigration-policy-harms-asylum-seekers-mental-health-8358">How immigration policy harms asylum seekers’ mental health</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-in-indonesia-why-do-they-get-on-boats-8334">Asylum seekers in Indonesia: why do they get on boats?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-deaths-at-sea-asking-the-experts-on-asylum-seekers-8315">Preventing deaths at sea: asking the experts on asylum seekers</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8361/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Around the world, refugees from civil war are likely to flee first to the neighbouring countries across their land borders. Many stay there, usually wasting their lives in camps, becoming ever more depressed…Helen Ware, Professor, International Agency Leadership, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/84182012-07-24T10:53:53Z2012-07-24T10:53:53ZUncomfortable truths: busting the top three asylum seeker myths<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13354/original/pcy25zwf-1343112229.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">original</span> </figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13352/original/7tj4sj4z-1343111496.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13352/original/7tj4sj4z-1343111496.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13352/original/7tj4sj4z-1343111496.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13352/original/7tj4sj4z-1343111496.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13352/original/7tj4sj4z-1343111496.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13352/original/7tj4sj4z-1343111496.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13352/original/7tj4sj4z-1343111496.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There is no such thing as a “typical” refugee.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Jamal Nasrallah</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over the past few weeks as the asylum debate has heated up, rumours and myths have been circulating with well-rehearsed mantras being repeated about the good, the bad and the downright ugly of asylum politics. </p>
<p>Here’s a few of the most pernicious untruths, and how they are shattered in the face of evidence-based research. We’d love to hear if you have any others.</p>
<h2>Myth one: there is an ‘orderly’ resettlement process</h2>
<p>The notion that Australia’s offshore refugee program is a perfect system, where more deserving refugees wait patiently in some kind of queue, is something that gets trucked out by people on both sides of the political divide. Most recently by the current Immigration Minister <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/is-offshore-policy-fair-just-ask-the-migrants/story-e6frgd0x-1226425723554">Chris Bowen</a> and Former Immigration Minister <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/we-need-to-be-a-little-cruel-to-some-to-be-kind-to-the-rest-20120722-22i1g.html">Amanda Vanstone</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-and-australia-the-evidence-8173">Research</a> on the refugee experience emphasises a number of themes – most often violence, marginalisation and unpredictability, not orderly queues and a known future.</p>
<p>The most immediate problem with refugee resettlement process is the lack of available places. The <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/5006a6aa9.html">United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees</a> estimates that with 800,000 refugees globally in need of protection and only 80,000 places offered annually by countries around the world, “only one in every ten refugees at risk and in need of resettlement will be able to secure the protection they require through this durable solution”. </p>
<p>This makes for pretty stark numbers: closer to home, in a recent evaluation of its Malaysian operations, <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/4faa1e6e9.pdf">UNHCR</a> reported 7300 resettlement cases departing in 2009 and nearly 8000 in 2010, many fewer than the places that could be taken up by some of the 100,000 refugees and asylum-seekers residing in Malaysia. Of course not everyone wants to be resettled (many people opt to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-and-australia-the-evidence-8173">voluntarily repatriated or integrate locally</a> in a country) or will be found eligible for resettlement. No one country is going to solve the plight of the world’s refugees through resettlement alone but more countries taking part in resettlement programs will help.</p>
<p>As demand grows, refugee resettlement has also become highly contentious and complicated. <a href="http://www.cis.org/articles/2003/back1303.pdf">Ethnographic studies and NGO reports of resettlement</a> show it to be a negotiated and imperfect process. For example, a scandal in <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(00)05171-0/fulltext">2001 revealed that bribes were being paid</a> to staff at the UNHCR office in Kenya by refugees hoping to get their resettlement applications prioritised. </p>
<p>Australia conducts interviews with all of its refugee applicants, including those referred by UNHCR, which can make the application process slow. Perhaps some improvements could be achieved by getting more cases referred from reputable NGOs who work closely with refugees and streamlining the interview to a desk review of cases – which is how the USA handles its large resettlement program. Getting to a UNHCR office, or a local Australian embassy can be risky or near impossible for many refugees.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13354/original/pcy25zwf-1343112229.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13354/original/pcy25zwf-1343112229.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13354/original/pcy25zwf-1343112229.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13354/original/pcy25zwf-1343112229.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13354/original/pcy25zwf-1343112229.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13354/original/pcy25zwf-1343112229.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13354/original/pcy25zwf-1343112229.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Refugee processing and settlement is far from orderly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Hotli Simanjuntak </span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is true that all people arriving by boat or air who are accepted as refugees do reduce the number of places available to people waiting offshore. But this is due to the decision by the Australian government to link the (onshore and offshore) programs so that everyone competes for the same pool of resettlement places. </p>
<p>To change this would involve a simple bureaucratic decision that can be reversed at any time.</p>
<h2>Myth two: there is a ‘typical’ refugee</h2>
<p>The work of scholars like <a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1044926?uid=3737536&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21101102726841">Aristide Zolberg</a> and <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/aus/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521697897&ss=fro">James Jupp</a> provides a historical backdrop to the situations that cause people to flee their homes as refugees and the profile of people who leave. It is remarkable for its breadth and diversity. </p>
<p>Refugee arrival trends across the decades from Indo-China in the 1970s, the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka today, reflect contemporary crises. We can no sooner predict where the next group of refugees will emerge from than we can their demographic profile. </p>
<p>What we do know from the work of Zolberg in particular is that refugees flee for persecution-based reasons and also as a consequence of state or regime change. For example a large proportion of the latest <a href="http://www.fmreview.org/north-africa">refugee arrivals in the European Union</a> originate from Libya and Tunisia - states undergoing major changes. Today’s asylum-seekers will most likely not be the same profile in future and this is why an asylum policy should be centred on long-term strategies rather than concentrating on specific refugee groups.</p>
<p>Finally, a lot of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504630601163353#preview">interesting research</a> has shown how we have become accustomed to refugees fitting a certain prototype or image. <a href="http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/people/honorary-associates/harrell-bond">Barbara Harrell-Bond</a>, Founding Director of the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University, has helped us to <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books/about/Imposing_Aid.html?id=8dG6AAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">re-consider refugees</a> as “the eye of many a political storm”, rather than the way NGO appeals or media portrayals would have us see them – as helpless victims. It is worth reflecting on how this feeds a perception of a “grateful” refugee that is pitted against a mythical “queue-jumping” asylum-seeker.</p>
<h2>Myth three: people are being ‘pulled’ to Australia</h2>
<p>Many comments to <a href="https://theconversation.com/columns/asylum-seeker-expert-panel-20">The Conversation’s Expert Panel Blog</a> have suggested that asylum-seekers are drawn to Australia because of what it offers. <a href="http://library.npia.police.uk/docs/hordsolr/socialnetwork.pdf">Research by Dr Khalid Koser</a> for the UK Home Office found that “asylum seekers may arrive in destination countries without detailed knowledge of asylum policies, even where they have established social networks.” </p>
<p>This is because “many asylum seekers leave their country of origin under duress, and do not have the time to mobilise social networks or to evaluate information about potential destinations”. </p>
<p>As asylum seekers worldwide spend more and more waiting time in <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=280806">countries of transit</a>, they may become dependent on information from people smugglers. Whether they trust the information they are given, if they are given it at all, is unclear and so-called <a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/era/1248/">“deterrence” strategies are questionable</a>. </p>
<p><em>What other myths persist about asylum seekers who come to Australia? Do you have any questions for our panel? Leave your thoughts below.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Read the rest of The Conversation’s asylum seeker coverage:</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-and-australia-the-evidence-8173">Asylum seekers and Australia: the evidence</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversation-panel-on-asylum-seekers-meet-the-experts-8319">The Conversation panel on asylum seekers: meet the experts</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-global-refugee-populations-1975-2010-8443">Infographic: global refugee populations 1975-2010</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugee-intake-starts-in-the-region-making-a-difference-in-regional-burden-sharing-8550">Refugee intake starts in the region: making a difference in regional burden sharing</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-malaysia-the-good-the-bad-and-the-unexpected-8532">Refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia: the good, the bad and the unexpected</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-the-australian-public-really-think-about-asylum-seekers-8522">What does the Australian public really think about asylum seekers?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/resettling-refugees-the-evidence-supports-increasing-our-intake-8479">Resettling refugees: the evidence supports increasing our intake</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-role-does-australia-play-in-accepting-the-worlds-refugees-8328">What role does Australia play in accepting the world’s refugees?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-australias-boat-people-and-why-dont-they-get-on-planes-8361">Who are Australia’s ‘boat people’, and why don’t they get on planes?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-evidence-that-asylum-seeker-deterrence-policy-works-8367">There’s no evidence that asylum seeker deterrence policy works</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-more-to-regional-collaboration-than-the-malaysia-arrangement-8389">There’s more to regional collaboration than the Malaysia Arrangement</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-immigration-policy-harms-asylum-seekers-mental-health-8358">How immigration policy harms asylum seekers’ mental health</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-in-indonesia-why-do-they-get-on-boats-8334">Asylum seekers in Indonesia: why do they get on boats?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-deaths-at-sea-asking-the-experts-on-asylum-seekers-8315">Preventing deaths at sea: asking the experts on asylum seekers</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8418/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Over the past few weeks as the asylum debate has heated up, rumours and myths have been circulating with well-rehearsed mantras being repeated about the good, the bad and the downright ugly of asylum politics…Melissa Phillips, Honorary Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/83672012-07-24T04:14:36Z2012-07-24T04:14:36ZThere’s no evidence that asylum seeker deterrence policy works<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13262/original/jwthh7vn-1343005235.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The HMAS Albany is at the scene of a fire on a boat carrying asylum seekers near Ashmore Island off the coast of Western Australia</span> </figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13262/original/jwthh7vn-1343005235.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13262/original/jwthh7vn-1343005235.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13262/original/jwthh7vn-1343005235.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13262/original/jwthh7vn-1343005235.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13262/original/jwthh7vn-1343005235.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13262/original/jwthh7vn-1343005235.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13262/original/jwthh7vn-1343005235.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Interception at sea causes unnecessary confusion for Navy and Customs personnel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/ADF</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since 2001, the Border Crossing Observatory estimates 840 people have died between Australia and Indonesia, including the equivalent of eight kindergarten classes of children. </p>
<p>Policies of deterrence have become the “common sense” approach when it comes to what should be done about asylum seekers – both in terms of stopping the boats and in terms of saving lives. </p>
<p>The problem is that both these assumptions are largely unjustifiable based on the evidence. </p>
<h2>Deterrence has not decreased deaths</h2>
<p>Deterring irregular border crossings does not necessarily decrease border related deaths. <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=395839">Evidence suggests</a> in some contexts deterrence can simply displace deaths to another site, or changes the demographics of who dies.</p>
<p>In the US, <a href="http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415996945/">research has found</a> a relationship between deterrence policies and an increased number of border deaths. </p>
<p>For example, on the US-Mexico Border when <a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/gatekeeper.htm">Operation Hold the Line and Operation Gatekeeper</a> were announced by President Bill Clinton in 1993-4, it was always contended that border control would rely on increasing the risk of death to deter crossings. Instead, migrants were effectively “funnelled” into the most dangerous crossings and deaths dramatically increased.</p>
<p>Research has found a symbiotic relationship between increased border control and the role of organised criminal networks and increasingly risky border crossings. The data demonstrates that as apprehensions along the US-Mexico border increased, the risks taken by those crossing increased. </p>
<p>In Europe, deaths occur at a number of crossing points and are increasingly dispersed. While recent efforts by European border security agency <a href="http://www.frontex.europa.eu/">FRONTEX</a> have seen a reduction in Mediterranean crossings, <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=395839">my research has found</a> there has been an increase in land crossings across the Turkey/Greece border and an increase deaths crossing the Evros River and along the coast of Turkey.</p>
<h2>Untested waters</h2>
<p>To date, deterrence in the Australian context has not been robustly tested in terms of push, transit and pull elements.</p>
<p>While data show a period in which irregular maritime arrivals (IMAs) <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2011-2012/BoatArrivals#_Toc285178607">significantly dropped or stopped</a>, the relationship between deterrence and IMAs still needs rigorous testing (currently being undertaken by the <a href="http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/bordercrossings/">Border Crossing Observatory</a>). Therefore claims made as to the effectiveness of deterrence strategies (Temporary Protection Visas, offshore processing and mandatory detention) are largely ideological and not based on empirical research.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13261/original/gksxz356-1343005167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13261/original/gksxz356-1343005167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13261/original/gksxz356-1343005167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13261/original/gksxz356-1343005167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13261/original/gksxz356-1343005167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13261/original/gksxz356-1343005167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13261/original/gksxz356-1343005167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Five Afghani asylum seekers died when a wooden fishing vessel caught fire as it was being towed to Christmas Island in April 2009.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The available evidence suggests that deterrence is unlikely to have worked in a sustained way all asylum seeker groups. For example, arrival data demonstrates significant shifts in the nationality, age and gender of arrivals over the past 12 years and more importantly significant changes within nationality groups regarding gender and age composition. </p>
<p>Notwithstanding the consistency of Afghan arrivals across the time period, the composition of boat arrivals prompts questions regarding whether deterrent initiatives have greater impact with some groups over others, such as women.</p>
<h2>Current policy</h2>
<p>There are three clearly identifiable sites of deterrence currently operating in Australia.</p>
<p>First, deterring or preventing access to visas for fear that entry is being sought for reasons other than for work or tourism - ie to seek asylum. These policies may actually be regarded as drivers of irregular entry for some groups. Many asylum seekers make claims for protection after travelling to Australia on a legitimate visa – this causes limited if any media attention and little bureaucratic fuss.</p>
<p>Second, deterrence and disruption initiatives within Indonesia. We cannot easily assess the impact of these initiatives on displacing irregular migration and asylum to less well-equipped parts of the region. Nor can we assess the extent to which they prevent or exacerbate risky voyages, or the displacement of deaths to other locations. It is possible that voyages may begin from previously unused locations for alternative entry points.</p>
<p>Third, onshore deterrence initiatives. At best There is mixed evidence regarding the impact of onshore deterrence measures made up of TPVs, offshore processing and immigration detention. </p>
<p>Researcher Roslyn Richardson, for example, has <a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/era/1248/">documented</a> the unexpected ways deterrence messages (regarding TPVs, offshore processing and immigration detention) were consumed and acted upon by asylum seekers. </p>
<p>It’s also worth noting that the incident involving the largest loss of life (SIEV X) occurred after the introduction of offshore processing. The demographics of the passengers on the SIEV X have been widely regarded as being driven by the exclusion of family reunification as part of the temporary protection visa program.</p>
<h2>Putting personnel at risk</h2>
<p>Analysis of the SIEV 36 explosion suggests significant ramifications for customs and the navy for policies which depend on interception at sea. Such policies are likely to have serious ramifications for personnel involved. This is for a range of reasons.</p>
<p>It can lead to role conflict for staff in relation to security, rescue, migration and deterrence, as well as an increasingly blurred line between migration, military and law enforcement bodies. </p>
<p>Policies which depend upon the point of interception at sea can lead to heightened tensions, increased risk of harm and loss of life, as well as serious concerns regarding morale and retention of staff, the politicisation of agencies and deterioration of legitimacy both within and outside of the force.</p>
<p>As a criminologist, the idea that an illicit market, such as people smuggling, can be dealt with through enforcement-related strategies and broad deterrent messages has serious limitations. </p>
<p>Historically, the most effective approaches to reducing illicit markets have been found through regulatory measures and harm minimisation approaches, not deterrence. There is simply not enough evidence that deterrence works to justify the expense and potential harm of its implementation.</p>
<hr>
<p>Read the rest of The Conversation’s asylum seeker coverage:</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-and-australia-the-evidence-8173">Asylum seekers and Australia: the evidence</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversation-panel-on-asylum-seekers-meet-the-experts-8319">The Conversation panel on asylum seekers: meet the experts</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-global-refugee-populations-1975-2010-8443">Infographic: global refugee populations 1975-2010</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugee-intake-starts-in-the-region-making-a-difference-in-regional-burden-sharing-8550">Refugee intake starts in the region: making a difference in regional burden sharing</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-malaysia-the-good-the-bad-and-the-unexpected-8532">Refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia: the good, the bad and the unexpected</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-the-australian-public-really-think-about-asylum-seekers-8522">What does the Australian public really think about asylum seekers?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/resettling-refugees-the-evidence-supports-increasing-our-intake-8479">Resettling refugees: the evidence supports increasing our intake</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-role-does-australia-play-in-accepting-the-worlds-refugees-8328">What role does Australia play in accepting the world’s refugees?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-australias-boat-people-and-why-dont-they-get-on-planes-8361">Who are Australia’s ‘boat people’, and why don’t they get on planes?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/uncomfortable-truths-busting-the-top-three-asylum-seeker-myths-8418">Uncomfortable truths: busting the top three asylum seeker myths</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-more-to-regional-collaboration-than-the-malaysia-arrangement-8389">There’s more to regional collaboration than the Malaysia Arrangement</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-immigration-policy-harms-asylum-seekers-mental-health-8358">How immigration policy harms asylum seekers’ mental health</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-in-indonesia-why-do-they-get-on-boats-8334">Asylum seekers in Indonesia: why do they get on boats?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-deaths-at-sea-asking-the-experts-on-asylum-seekers-8315">Preventing deaths at sea: asking the experts on asylum seekers</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8367/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Since 2001, the Border Crossing Observatory estimates 840 people have died between Australia and Indonesia, including the equivalent of eight kindergarten classes of children. Policies of deterrence have…Sharon Pickering, Professor of Criminology, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/83892012-07-23T20:40:23Z2012-07-23T20:40:23ZThere’s more to regional collaboration than the Malaysia Arrangement<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13293/original/4gq88xpg-1343024691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">original</span> </figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13293/original/4gq88xpg-1343024691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13293/original/4gq88xpg-1343024691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13293/original/4gq88xpg-1343024691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13293/original/4gq88xpg-1343024691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13293/original/4gq88xpg-1343024691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13293/original/4gq88xpg-1343024691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13293/original/4gq88xpg-1343024691.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Malaysia Arrangement signed by Immigration Minister Chris Bowen (right) and Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Hishamuddin Huseiin (left) was a step backwards for refugee policy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Ahmad Yusni</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For many years now Australia has engaged in border control collaboration with other countries in the region. </p>
<p>We have out-posted our own immigration, customs, police and other officials in source countries such as Sri Lanka and transit countries such as Indonesia to assist in interception of potential irregular movers. We have poured millions of dollars into building the border control capacity of countries in the region. </p>
<p>Since its inception in 2002, Australia has also been co-chair with Indonesia of the <a href="http://www.baliprocess.net/">Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime</a>. The Process has 44 member countries. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) are also participants. As its full name suggests, Bali Process activities are focused on disrupting transnational crime through improved regional cooperation.</p>
<p>The problem with this kind of collaboration is that it doesn’t actually do anything to address the human insecurity that compels people to attempt irregular travel to Australia in the first place. All it can achieve is to force asylum seekers to make equally risky journeys to other places where protection may be found, or trap them in transit or source countries where they will suffer and die unseen by us.</p>
<p>In fairness, Australia has also engaged in more positive kinds of collaboration over the years. We make some attempt to address causes of displacement in source countries such as Afghanistan; fund projects designed to stabilise or repatriate displaced populations through the Department of Immigration’s <a href="http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/cb/2012/cb186379.htm">Displaced Persons Program</a>; and make funding and refugee resettlement places available to UNHCR.</p>
<p>In 1996, Australia and UNHCR initiated the <a href="http://www.apcprocess.net/">Asia–Pacific Consultations on Refugees, Displaced Persons and Migrants</a> (APC) which supposedly promotes dialogue and cooperation in relation to asylum seeker issues. Unfortunately, the APC has been moribund for many years. </p>
<p>More positively, the Bali Process, which previously left asylum seeker issues to the APC, started putting these issues on its agenda from 2009. This shift culminated in the non-binding <a href="http://www.baliprocess.net/files/110330_FINAL_Ministerial_Co-chairs%20statement%20BRMC%20IV.doc">Regional Cooperation Framework</a> (RCF) set out in March last year.</p>
<p>Although this is primarily a framework for border control cooperation, it also incorporates protection-related principles. However, whether or not the RCF lives up to its refugee protection potential depends entirely on its implementation. </p>
<p>The non-binding <a href="http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/media-releases/_pdf/20110725-arrangement-malaysia-aust.pdf">Malaysia Arrangement</a> which was signed on 25 July 2011, while being represented as a practical implementation of the framework, was a step backwards in this regard. It contemplates the transfer of individuals who have already engaged Australia’s international protection obligations to a country which is not bound by equivalent obligations under international law or its own law, and which cannot be relied upon to behave as if it were. </p>
<p>As is well-known, there have not, in fact, been any transfers made under the Malaysia Arrangement because the High Court <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2011/32.html">held</a> in August last year that doing so would be domestically unlawful. </p>
<p>Far more palatable than the Malaysia Arrangement are arrangements such as the one which has been in place between Australia, Indonesia and IOM since 2000. Under this arrangement, Indonesian authorities intercept irregular migrants and refer them to IOM for case management and care. IOM refers those who wish to make asylum claims to UNHCR and continues to provide individuals with material assistance pending determination of their asylum claims. Of course, the Australia-Indonesia-IOM arrangement hasn’t stopped the boats. In my <a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-in-indonesia-why-do-they-get-on-boats-8334">previous post</a> I attempted to explain why.</p>
<p>Many commentators have suggested that Australia may be able to reduce the number of individuals travelling from Indonesia to Australia by boat by making a greater number of resettlement places available to recognised refugees in Indonesia. </p>
<p>This is certainly a necessary part of any humane policy response, but it will not suffice on its own. For example, the <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/4fd6f87f9.html">number of asylum seekers and refugees</a> in Malaysia has always been much larger than in Indonesia. At the end of 2011 there were 4,239 individuals (including 1,006 recognised refugees) registered with UNHCR in Indonesia. At the same time, there were 96,617 individuals (including 85,754 recognised refugees) registered with UNHCR in Malaysia. </p>
<p>The conditions in Malaysia are so bad and the chances of obtaining a durable solution to their plight so slim that many asylum seekers and recognised refugees travel onward to Indonesia. A policy response to the problem of irregular movement to Australia which focuses on improving conditions in Indonesia alone will further increase the attractiveness of Indonesia over Malaysia and may exacerbate onward movement.</p>
<p>In short, the only way we can reduce irregular movement to Australia in a way that is respectful of human rights and the interests of other states is to ensure that asylum seekers throughout our region have access to fair procedures for determining refugee status claims; obtain a durable solution in a reasonable time frame if found to be refugees; and receive effective protection in the meantime. </p>
<p>We cannot do this cheaply nor can we do it alone, but we would probably make progress in the longer term if we invest the same amount of money and diplomatic effort in the endeavour as we presently invest in border control.</p>
<hr>
<p>Read the rest of The Conversation’s asylum seeker coverage:</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-and-australia-the-evidence-8173">Asylum seekers and Australia: the evidence</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversation-panel-on-asylum-seekers-meet-the-experts-8319">The Conversation panel on asylum seekers: meet the experts</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-global-refugee-populations-1975-2010-8443">Infographic: global refugee populations 1975-2010</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugee-intake-starts-in-the-region-making-a-difference-in-regional-burden-sharing-8550">Refugee intake starts in the region: making a difference in regional burden sharing</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-malaysia-the-good-the-bad-and-the-unexpected-8532">Refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia: the good, the bad and the unexpected</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-the-australian-public-really-think-about-asylum-seekers-8522">What does the Australian public really think about asylum seekers?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/resettling-refugees-the-evidence-supports-increasing-our-intake-8479">Resettling refugees: the evidence supports increasing our intake</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-role-does-australia-play-in-accepting-the-worlds-refugees-8328">What role does Australia play in accepting the world’s refugees?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-australias-boat-people-and-why-dont-they-get-on-planes-8361">Who are Australia’s ‘boat people’, and why don’t they get on planes?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/uncomfortable-truths-busting-the-top-three-asylum-seeker-myths-8418">Uncomfortable truths: busting the top three asylum seeker myths</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-evidence-that-asylum-seeker-deterrence-policy-works-8367">There’s no evidence that asylum seeker deterrence policy works</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-immigration-policy-harms-asylum-seekers-mental-health-8358">How immigration policy harms asylum seekers’ mental health</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-in-indonesia-why-do-they-get-on-boats-8334">Asylum seekers in Indonesia: why do they get on boats?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-deaths-at-sea-asking-the-experts-on-asylum-seekers-8315">Preventing deaths at sea: asking the experts on asylum seekers</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8389/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
For many years now Australia has engaged in border control collaboration with other countries in the region. We have out-posted our own immigration, customs, police and other officials in source countries…Savitri Taylor, Associate Professor, Law School, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/83582012-07-20T05:49:21Z2012-07-20T05:49:21ZHow immigration policy harms asylum seekers’ mental health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13221/original/gk5t3g3p-1342759450.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">anickerson</span> </figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13220/original/rh9yr2xr-1342758887.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13220/original/rh9yr2xr-1342758887.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13220/original/rh9yr2xr-1342758887.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13220/original/rh9yr2xr-1342758887.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13220/original/rh9yr2xr-1342758887.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13220/original/rh9yr2xr-1342758887.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13220/original/rh9yr2xr-1342758887.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Our interception policies badly affect the mental health of asylum seekers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DIAC</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by <a href="http://www.psy.unsw.edu.au/profiles/research/anickerson.html">Angela Nickerson</a>.</em></p>
<p>In the current political impasse concerning the off-shore processing of asylum seekers, all parties converge on one key priority: preventing asylum seekers from undertaking perilous boat journeys to Australia. </p>
<p>Australia implements a range of interception immigration policies designed to manage the flow of regular and irregular migrants (including asylum seekers), and to deter individuals without proper authorisation from arriving in this country. But beyond discussion of mortality, there is inadequate consideration of the effects these strategies have on asylum seekers’ mental health.</p>
<h2>Mandatory detention</h2>
<p>Research has demonstrated that restrictive immigration policies of interception and deterrence have <a href="http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001038">adverse effects</a> on the health and wellbeing of the individuals they are designed to deter. </p>
<p>Mandatory detention has repeatedly been shown to have a substantial negative impact on the health of asylum seekers. </p>
<p>The stress factors associated with indefinite confinement have been well documented. Detainees face ongoing uncertainty and reduced control over their future, limited access to legal resources and proximity to others exhibiting significant levels of psychological distress, to name a few. </p>
<p>Despite years of reform, these factors remain the mainstay of the detention experience. They are known to lead to the development of mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and <a href="http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/194/4/306">self-harm</a>. This <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15707201">compounds the effects</a> of any pre-migration exposure to war and refugee trauma, undermining recovery. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13208/original/83p26c7b-1342757688.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13208/original/83p26c7b-1342757688.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13208/original/83p26c7b-1342757688.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13208/original/83p26c7b-1342757688.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13208/original/83p26c7b-1342757688.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13208/original/83p26c7b-1342757688.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13208/original/83p26c7b-1342757688.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mandatory detention can lead to mental health problems that continue after release.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DIAC Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite increases in provision for mental health services in detention settings in Australia, health outcomes remain poor. Rates of mental illness are much higher amongst asylum seekers in detention than in community settings, and mental health symptoms increase with time spent in detention. This commonly results in prolonged psychological difficulties and functional impairment, even after refugee status has been granted. These findings underscore the toxic impact of the detention environment on the mental health of asylum seekers.</p>
<h2>Temporary protection visas</h2>
<p>Temporary protection visas (TPVs), routinely issued by the Australian Government from 1999 to 2008, were found to be extremely harmful to mental health.</p>
<p>Between these years, TPVs were automatically granted to all individuals found to be genuine refugees but who had arrived using irregular migration channels, including by boat. TPV holders were restricted from accessing essential benefits, services and family reunification programs, and they lived with the overshadowing possibility of repatriation to their home countries. </p>
<p>Reports from centres working with refugees across the country quickly identified TPV holders as a unique group who were unable to recover from their traumatic pasts while their futures hung in limbo. This was followed by <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21427011">research identifying</a> TPV holders as experiencing unremittingly high rates of mental health issues and resettlement difficulties, compared to refugees who had been granted permanent protection visas.</p>
<p>All TPVs were reverted to permanent protection visas by the Labor Government in 2008. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21296428">Research has shown</a> that exchanging temporary for permanent visas reduced psychological symptoms amongst refugees. </p>
<p>One of the most concerning aspects of the recent spurt of political discussions around interception measures has been the <a href="http://www.liberal.org.au/%7E/media/Files/Policies%20and%20Media/National%20Security/Coalition%20Border%20Protection%20Policy.ashx">Coalitions’ commitment</a> to reintroduce TPVs, neglecting this evidence of harm. The reintroduction of TPVs would significantly undermine recent steps taken to improve the health and wellbeing of asylum seekers.</p>
<h2>Interception</h2>
<p>The government’s interception policies also have hidden impacts on the health of asylum seekers. These strategies include stringent visa restrictions indiscriminately applied to whole populations, and the imposition of large fines on airline carriers for transporting passengers without adequate documentation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13212/original/2fyy73yp-1342757930.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/13212/original/2fyy73yp-1342757930.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13212/original/2fyy73yp-1342757930.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13212/original/2fyy73yp-1342757930.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13212/original/2fyy73yp-1342757930.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13212/original/2fyy73yp-1342757930.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/13212/original/2fyy73yp-1342757930.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This memorial on Christmas Island pays tribute to the 353 asylum seekers who drowned on their way to the island aboard SIEV X in 2001.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Timothy D Johnson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Consequently, potential asylum seekers are either obliged to remain in unsafe situations or seek risky, circuitous routes, often with disastrous consequences, rather than simply buying an inexpensive plane ticket. Such conditions render it impossible to recover from the impact of persecution, instead increasing the psychological effects of exposure to trauma. </p>
<p>These serious but covert repercussions for the physical and mental wellbeing of asylum seekers are frequently overlooked in national political debates that are incessantly focused on irregular boat arrivals.</p>
<h2>Preventing recovery</h2>
<p>Common stress factors are amplified by each of these restrictive immigration policies and collectively act to undermine good mental health.</p>
<p>Fundamentally, these interception policies not only fail to protect asylum seekers, negating the commitment Australia has made as a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, but also actively detract from physical and mental health by directly erecting barriers to recovery from trauma. </p>
<p>Mass disaster <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18181708">research</a> has shown that conditions of safety and predictability are <a href="http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=916981">vital</a> to recovery from trauma. </p>
<p>Recovery is the norm among refugee groups when provided with a stable environment and access to resources that promote personal independence and positive resettlement. </p>
<p>An example comes from Australian’s own migration history: Vietnamese refugees arriving in Australia from the late 1970’s have prospered as a dynamic immigrant community that actively contributes to the cultural and economic development of Australia. Their migration occurred at a time when no policy of deterrence was in operation as there was global support for the stable resettlement of refugees. Consequently, and in spite of significant exposure to traumatic events, this population exhibits <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673602111421">very low levels</a> of mental health difficulties.</p>
<h2>The cornerstone for good policy</h2>
<p>Encouraging positive health in asylum seekers must be a cornerstone of all asylum seeker policy design. </p>
<p>The Australian government has demonstrated some consideration of health factors in its Malaysian solution by highlighting the need for a safe environment in which applications for asylum can be processed while actively discouraging hazardous journeys by boat. </p>
<p>But this policy, and the alternative policies being advocated by the opposition, falls short of addressing the health impacts of the policies currently in place. </p>
<p>It is critical that accumulating evidence documenting both the positive and detrimental factors affecting mental health are incorporated into asylum seeker immigration policy. </p>
<p>This will not only prevent further harm, but also assist refugees to recover from the impact of trauma and persecution, in order to build new lives as healthy, functioning members of Australian society.</p>
<hr>
<p>Read the rest of The Conversation’s asylum seeker coverage:</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-and-australia-the-evidence-8173">Asylum seekers and Australia: the evidence</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversation-panel-on-asylum-seekers-meet-the-experts-8319">The Conversation panel on asylum seekers: meet the experts</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-global-refugee-populations-1975-2010-8443">Infographic: global refugee populations 1975-2010</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugee-intake-starts-in-the-region-making-a-difference-in-regional-burden-sharing-8550">Refugee intake starts in the region: making a difference in regional burden sharing</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/refugees-and-asylum-seekers-in-malaysia-the-good-the-bad-and-the-unexpected-8532">Refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia: the good, the bad and the unexpected</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-the-australian-public-really-think-about-asylum-seekers-8522">What does the Australian public really think about asylum seekers?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/resettling-refugees-the-evidence-supports-increasing-our-intake-8479">Resettling refugees: the evidence supports increasing our intake</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-role-does-australia-play-in-accepting-the-worlds-refugees-8328">What role does Australia play in accepting the world’s refugees?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-australias-boat-people-and-why-dont-they-get-on-planes-8361">Who are Australia’s ‘boat people’, and why don’t they get on planes?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/uncomfortable-truths-busting-the-top-three-asylum-seeker-myths-8418">Uncomfortable truths: busting the top three asylum seeker myths</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-evidence-that-asylum-seeker-deterrence-policy-works-8367">There’s no evidence that asylum seeker deterrence policy works</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-more-to-regional-collaboration-than-the-malaysia-arrangement-8389">There’s more to regional collaboration than the Malaysia Arrangement</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-in-indonesia-why-do-they-get-on-boats-8334">Asylum seekers in Indonesia: why do they get on boats?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-deaths-at-sea-asking-the-experts-on-asylum-seekers-8315">Preventing deaths at sea: asking the experts on asylum seekers</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8358/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
This article was co-authored by Angela Nickerson. In the current political impasse concerning the off-shore processing of asylum seekers, all parties converge on one key priority: preventing asylum seekers…Belinda Liddell, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.