We need to see Australia’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis in perspective – in relation to what’s been done elsewhere and to what Australia has done on similar occasions in the past.
The current influx of asylum seekers, refugees and economic migrants into Western Europe presents a profound challenge to the European Union’s values, solidarity and capacity to simply manage and accommodate…
Despite the slowdown in China, Josh Frydenberg says that there are strong signs for the Australian economy.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
The federal government’s decision to take 12,000 extra refugees from the Syrian-Iraq conflict will cost the budget A$700 million over the forward estimates.
The Abbott government’s instinct on foreign policy is to approach it through the lens of domestic politics.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The pressure the Abbott government faced over the Syrian refugee crisis hints at a broader trend. Global political dynamics are now exposing a credibility deficit in Australian foreign policy.
Australia should not wait until bodies are washed up on foreign beaches before it is spurred to action on addressing refugee flows.
Reuters/Dimitris Michalakis
Australia should not reserve its help for those fleeing conflict in distant wars. Its first duty should be to those who face death and persecution in its own region.
The lucky ones: bound for Germany.
Leonhard Foeger/Reuters
Much of the conventional wisdom among academics over the last decade or so has focused on the convergent trends in European government policies toward both migrants and asylum seekers. Spurred on by European…
Tony Abbott is wedged between the hard right in the Coalition and commentariat on the one hand, and Liberal moderates, compassionate conservatives and pragmatists on the other, as the government considers…
Tony Abbott said Australia takes more refugees on a per capita basis than any other country.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that Australia takes more refugees than any other through the UNHCR on a per capita basis. Is that right?
A global approach would significantly increase the burden-sharing between the refugee-hosting countries near Syria and the rest of the developed world.
Reuters/Stoyan Nenov
The Abbott government is under pressure to increase its overall humanitarian refugee intake, as Labor declared Australia should offer a one-off additional 10,000 places for refugees.
Germany is doing most of the heavy lifting.
Reuters/Leonhard Foeger
Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement and Director of the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity, University of Birmingham