The Houston Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers was set the task of reducing deaths of asylum seekers following the mounting loss of life on the seas between Indonesia and Australia. But it remained blind to…
These young migrants and refugees could one day become leading scientists.
Sean Perera
The Office of the Chief Scientist has released details of a new “visionary leader” role to champion science with education and industry. The new role is part of the Chief Scientist’s mission to bolster…
Humans as well as animals are affected by climate change. A treaty could keep them safe and reduce forced migration.
AAP
Climate change will lead to significant human displacement. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other groups warn that the effects – including rising sea levels, heavier floods, more…
The new government campaign misses the mark.
Australian government
With 5,459 attempted boat arrivals to Australia in the first half of 2012, an increase of 894 since last year, it is no wonder the prime minister is desperate to demonstrate she is combating people smuggling…
Asylum seekers arrive in Malta after being rescued at sea.
EPA/Justin Gatt
You wouldn’t know it by listening to Question Time, but Australia is not the only country experiencing asylum seekers arriving by boat. Italy and Malta find themselves on the frontline of policing external…
There is a fairer and more humane way of dealing with asylum seekers.
AAP/Department of Defence
After two weeks of assessing the evidence, discussing policy and reporting on fieldwork, The Conversation’s asylum seeker expert panel has made its findings. Using information from our research repository…
35 years of refugee journeys, charted on an interactive map.
35 years of refugee crises, charted on an interactive map. Click this image to launch. Welcome to our new infographic, displaying global populations of refugees from 1975-2010, as part of The Conversation’s…
Our panel will consider options to prevent deaths at sea.
AAP/Basarnas
The Conversation has brought together a team of six academic experts to tackle one of the thorniest issues in Australian politics - asylum seeker deaths at sea. Over the next few weeks, they’ll be examining…
Detention on Nauru is not the answer – and neither is the Malaysian solution.
AAP/Rural Australians for Refugees
Recent debates on asylum seeker problems have revolved around two approaches that are not going to work. The opposition’s Nauru solution is not going to get people off boats. It is part of the process…
Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre.
DIAC
Welcome to The Conversation’s research repository on asylum seeker issues. When public debate has ground to a halt over something as serious as lives lost at sea, it’s time to look to what the evidence…
Rohingya asylum seekers from Burma in a temporary shelter at Aceh, Indonesia.
EPA/Hotli Simanjuntak
Last week Australia’s politicians determined to “do something” to stop people risking their lives at sea on asylum boats headed for Australia. The government wanted a bill from independent MP Rob Oakeshott…
Refugees on boats en route to Australia are seen by many Indonesians as our problem, not theirs.
AAP/Karlis Salna
If the lead stories in the digital and print media are anything to go by, Indonesians have little interest in the recent asylum seeker boat sinkings and the accompanying loss of life. Over the past couple…
Refugees stuck in Malaysia are not a means to an end - their rights as individuals are inviolable.
AAP/Karlis Salna
There’s a knock on the door. It’s late, and it has been a wild and stormy night. You wonder who could possibly be outside in this weather. Opening the door you find a young man collapsed on your doorstep…
A boat carrying asylum seekers arrives at Christmas Island today.
AAP/Rossbach/Krepp
As I write this, mainstream political parties are locked in a futile battle to determine whose deterrence-based policy will prevail. Debates like the one we saw yesterday in the House of Representatives…
While politicians debated a bill in Canberra, 150 asylum seekers’ lives were at risk.
AAP/Australian Maritime Safety Authority
When asylum seekers die at sea there are too many things we don’t want to talk about. Following the news of another asylum boat capsizing yesterday, at 2pm the federal Parliament began with a sombre and…
Refugees are created by wars and persecution. People flee their homes because their governments will not, or cannot, protect them from harm and allow them to live in peace. Under international law, as…
We all know moving is hard. It’s even harder when you don’t want to go. But it can still be a positive decision.
United Nations
Who are the “climate change migrants” we hear about with increasing regularity in the media and in global and regional policy forums? Are they the victims of devastating environmental forces - the result…
Some Australian refugees develop “protracted asylum seeker syndrome”.
Alex E. Proimos
There’s a common misconception within the Australian community that asylum seekers arrive by boat. In fact, most asylum seekers arrive here by aeroplane with valid travel documents and reside in the community…
Refugees can be detained indefinitely if they do not pass security clearance.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Last night, Lateline reported on a five-year-old refugee who faced the prospect of being separated from his father forever. His father had failed an ASIO security assessment, which under current policies…
Falun Gong protestors outside the Chinese consulate in Sydney in 2008.
AAP/Dean Lewins
UPDATE: The Chinese nationals have now elected to stay in Australia, where they will seek asylum. A group of ten Chinese people fleeing persecution in their home country has presented Australian authorities…
Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement and Director of the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity, University of Birmingham