Many have claimed that the ending of detention on Nauru is a strategic move to undermine a constitutional challenge to Australia’s offshore detention regime, heard by the High Court this week.
The undeniable truth is that Nauru – whether inside or outside the confines of the detention camp – is a dangerous and soul-destroying place for both asylum seekers and refugees.
Malcolm Turnbull confronts a classic “wicked problem” in how to deal with the nearly 1600 asylum seekers who are stuck in terrible conditions on Nauru and Manus Island. A “wicked problem” is one that is…
Are some countries more compassionate than others when it comes to taking in the victims of conflict and chaos? To judge from the numbers, one might be forgiven for thinking so. Of the four million registered…
Australian colonial rule and its legacy tend to be neglected, but as Papua New Guinea marks 40 years of independence the nation is still living with the consequences.
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…
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 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.
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…
So far, Tony Abbott has failed to position himself as anything more than an opposition leader who has been given power and is unsure what to do with it.