Prime minister Kevin Rudd has indicated that he would like to revisit Australia’s obligations under the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. We are yet to learn what this may mean…
1. Julie Bishop: Australia has the right to return asylum seeker boats to Indonesia “We cannot escape from the fact that they are Indonesian boats with Indonesian crews from Indonesian ports. Of course…
Seventy asylum seekers have been moved from the Manus Island immigration detention facility to Christmas Island following a long overdue decision by the Gillard government. The decision to keep families…
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation et Francisca Gallardo, The Conversation
Child and refugee psychiatry experts have raised concerns over reports the government is considering sending refugee families with children to the Curtin Immigration Detention Centre, a remote ex-army…
27 men detained in Broadmeadows’ Melbourne Immigration Transit Centre (MITA) ended their hunger strike on Wednesday evening. This group of 25 Tamils and two Burmese Rohingyas had gone ten days without…
Refugees arriving in Australia often suffer from dangerous levels of Vitamin B12 deficiency, which can be fatal if left untreated, a new study has found. The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, concluded…
Four-year-old Ar Zin stared at my bag. He knew there was something special inside. The classroom full of 30 Burmese refugee children was so hushed that I could each child’s breath, and Ar Zin’s eyes followed…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement and Director of the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity, University of Birmingham