Remembering the SIEV X: Who Cares for the Bodies of the Stateless, Lost at Sea?

2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth Gibbings
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Illegal Immigrants ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Australian Government ◽  
Fishing Vessel ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Temporary Protection ◽  
National Capital ◽  
Women And Children

Abstract The SIEV X was a tiny fishing vessel traveling from Indonesia to Australia in 2001, carrying around four hundred people seeking asylum after fleeing from the warfare and persecution predominantly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many were women and children trying to enter Australia to join fathers and husbands already granted refugee status but not allowed to bring in family members because of new Australian laws on “Temporary Protection Visas.” Of these, 353 drowned when the boat sank in international waters. The conservative Australian government denied responsibility, using the event in an election campaign to play on fears about illegal entry and border defense in the Islamophobic climate in the aftermath of 9/11. Yet many everyday Australians eventually became involved in a collaborative design process to create a memorial to those asylum seekers. This article discusses the debates around memorials for those lost at sea, and particularly for those who might be portrayed as enemies or “illegal immigrants” whose coming threatens national borders. It identifies the conditions under which the campaign to commemorate those who died on the SIEV X moved from being a minority interest to become a cause so widely supported by Australians across the country that the memorial was eventually erected in the heart of the national capital.

scholarly journals “Disturbing Practices”: Dehumanizing Asylum Seekers in the Refugee “Crisis” in Australia, 2001–2002

Refuge ◽  
2003 ◽  
pp. 25-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Leach
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Difference ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Parental Responsibility ◽  
Australian Government ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Boat People ◽  
Post September 11 ◽  
The Way

Throughout late 2001 and 2002, the Australian Government, seeking re-election, campaigned on a tough line against so-called “illegal” immigrants. Represented as “queue jumpers,” “boat people,” and “illegals,” most of these asylum seekers came from Middle Eastern countries, and, in the main, from Afghanistan and Iraq. This paper explores the way particular representations of cultural difference were entwined in media and government attacks upon asylum seekers. In particular, it analyzes the way key government figures articulated a negative understanding of asylum seekers’ family units – representing these as “foreign” or “other” to contemporary Australian standards of decency and parental responsibility. This representational regime also drew upon post-September 11 representations of Middle Eastern people, and was employed to call into question the validity of asylum-seekers’ claims for refugee status. Manufactured primarily through the now notorious “children overboard” incident, these images became a central motif of the 2001 election campaign. This paper concludes by examining the way these representations of refugees as “undeserving” were paralleled by new Temporary Protection Visa regulations in Australia.

scholarly journals Australian immigration detention and the silencing of practitioners

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
April Pearman ◽  
Stephanie Olinga-Shannon
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
National Security ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Security Risk ◽  
Australian Government ◽  
Immigration Detention

In recent years, the Australian Government has framed the arrival of asylum seekers by boat as a national security risk and the policy of stopping ‘unauthorised maritime arrivals’ has been used extensively byvarious political parties in their election campaign platforms (Phillips, 2017). Click on the pdf to read more.

scholarly journals Protecting the Borderline and Minding the Bottom Line: Asylum Seekers and Politics in Contemporary Australia

Refuge ◽  
2002 ◽  
pp. 63-75
Author(s):  
Simon Philpott
Keyword(s):  
Identity Politics ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Australian Government ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
The North ◽  
Privately Owned

In late 2001, the Australian government put asylum seekers at the centre of its re-election campaign by refusing to accept 438 asylum seekers picked up by the Norwegian cargo ship Tampa. It then introduced legislation giving the Commonwealth powers to interdict asylum seekers at sea, and to forcibly return them to the port of embarkation. These measures extend the punitive regime of mandatory detention in privately owned and operated centres. This paper examines recent legislative and identity politics in the context of the long-standing white Australian fear of invasion from the north.

scholarly journals Suaka dan Hukum Pengungsi Internasional

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya I Notoprayitno
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Australian Government ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Law

Asylum and Law for International Refugee. Some criteria have been determined for individual to have refugee status, and the country which grant the asylum would give the status based on social and humanity considerations. Therefore, the issue of granting asylum and refugee status can be seen not only political perspectives but also from juridical perspectives since it has been governed by international law, specifically the law of International Refugee. This article would focus on some cases on how asylum seekers got their refugee status, especially on the case of some Papuans who have obtained their refugee status and temporary visa from the Australian government in 2006. DOI: 10.15408/jch.v1i1.2983

scholarly journals Guilty When Innocent. Australian Government’s Resistance to Bringing Home Wives and Children of Islamic State Fighters

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 202
Author(s):  
Joumanah El-Matrah ◽  
Kamalle Dabboussy
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Australian Government ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Adequate Food ◽  
The Family ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers

Currently there are 20 Australian women and 47 children being held in the Al-Roj camp in Northern Syria, who are the family members of Islamic State fighters. The Australian government argues that it is both unsafe for government officials to rescue those held in the camp and unsafe for Australia to repatriate these women and children. This security rhetoric is commonly understood as Australia’s abandonment of its citizens and their entitlements to protection and repatriation. This paper argues that the Australian government is condemning its citizens to a condition of statelessness and displacement, simulating the following conditions under which refugees and asylum seekers are forced to live: murder, violence, deprivation of adequate food and shelter, disease, and the potential hazards of the COVID-19 infection. Rendering its citizens to a condition of statelessness and displacement constitutes both punishment meted out on those deemed guilty by their presence in Syria, and provides the Australian government the opportunity to revoke the citizenship of women and children. Three Australian women who travelled to Syria have already been stripped of their Australian citizenship. This paper explores the conditions and methods by which the Australian government has erased the entitlements, protections and certainty of citizenship for Australian Muslim women and children.

The 1969 Convention

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Sharpe
Keyword(s):  
Prima Facie ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Temporary Protection ◽  
Key Features

Chapter 3 first addresses the regional refugee definition according to the 1969 Convention , beginning with a description of article I(2)’s international influence and an interpretation of the definition using orthodox methods. The context and object and purpose of the 1969 Convention are discussed, followed by analysis of the ‘every person’ term and each of the 1969 Events and the test for refugee status under article I(2), including a discussion of internal flight alternative, ongoing risk, and sur place claims. Section B then addresses how article I(2) has been invoked in practice. Section B also addresses prima facie refugee status determination. Section C covers further key features of the 1969 Convention: whether it advances an individual right to asylum; non-refoulement; the formalization of responsibility sharing, temporary protection, and voluntary repatriation; and the Convention’s prohibition of subversive activities. Section D concludes.

scholarly journals Inconsistencies in repeated refugee status decisions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Pärnamets ◽  
Alexander Tagesson ◽  
Annika Wallin
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Civil Servant ◽  
Affective Responses ◽  
Significant Decline ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Seeking Safety ◽  
Active Regulation ◽  
Governmental Intervention ◽  
Emotional Demands ◽  
Over Time

Consistency in civil servant decisions is paramount to upholding judicial equality for citizens and individuals seeking safety through governmental intervention. We investigated refugee status decisions made by a sample of civil servants at the Swedish Migration Agency. We hypothesized, based on the emotional demands such decisions bring with them, that participants would exhibit a compassion fade effect such that refugee status was less likely to be granted over time. To test this, we administered a questionnaire containing brief presentations of asylum seekers and asked participants to judge how likely they would be to give refugee status to the person. Crucially the first, middle and final case presented were matched on decision relevant characteristics. Consistent with our hypothesis we saw a significant decline in ratings. These effects were accentuated by the amount of time a participant had worked at the agency, consistent with depletion of affective resources, and attenuated in workers with greater responsibility and additional training. We conclude that active regulation of empathic and affective responses to asylum seekers may play a role in determining the outcome in refugee status decisions.

scholarly journals The Psycho-Social Conditions of Asylum-Seekers from Darfur in Israel

Refuge ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vered Slonim-Nevo ◽  
Shirley Regev ◽  
Yiftach Millo
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Functioning ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Standardized Measures ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Migration Trauma ◽  
Dsm Iv ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers ◽  
State Of Israel

ObjectiveThe study appraises the prevalence of pre-migration trauma exposure, the ability to secure basic living needs, and psychological functioning among Darfuri asylumseekers and refugees living in Israel. MethodThe sample included 340 adults from Darfur. Standardized measures assessing socio-psychological functioning were utilized. Results The participants demonstrated high rates of pre-migration exposure to traumatic experiences. Thirty per cent of the participants met DSM–IV criteria PTSD, with a higher proportion for women than for men. Post-migration stressors were mentioned by the majority of the participants. ConclusionsThe State of Israel should recognize past atrocities and traumas of Darfuris who arrived in Israel. Such recognition should be offered as acceptance of their rightful access to refugee status determination. Moreover, the State of Israel needs to modify government policies and legalization facilities so that Darfuri refugees and asylum-seekers will have access to basic human needs and support services.

Protecting Vulnerable Refugees: Procedural Fairness in the Australian Fast Track Regime

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily McDonald ◽  
Maria O'Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Fast Track ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Procedural Fairness ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Efficiency Measures ◽  
Application Procedure ◽  
Visa Application ◽  
High Standards

Refugee Status Determination is a powerful example of the way in which vulnerability and the law interact. This article examines this interaction by analysing a case study: the special protection visa application procedure in place for certain asylum seekers in Australia (the ‘Fast Track Assessment’ process) and the implications of this for procedural fairness. We conclude that the current legislative framework for the Fast Track Assessment process operates to exacerbate the circumstances of vulnerability of asylum seekers. Efficiency measures are an important way of avoiding delays in decision-making. However it also increases the propensity of such measures to lead to serious legal errors. Considering the serious consequences of an improperly made decision in this context, we argue that high standards of procedural fairness and an oral hearing are required. The article also demonstrates that a central purpose of due process should be to mitigate (rather than exacerbate) circumstances of vulnerability or marginalisation.

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