Australian Punitive Policy Responses to Refugees Theory 2022

Australian Punitive Policy Responses to Refugees 1
Australian punitive policy responses to refugees
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Australian Punitive Policy Responses to Refugees 2
In absolute figures, Australia is the 50th country that receives the most refugees, but
paradoxically the 3rd country with the most refugees in its own territory. As for asylum seekers,
Australia is the 20th country that receives the most and the 28th most accepted. With a current
population of 24 million people, Australia hosted a total of 786,000 refugees during the period
1901-2010. But what is the policy behind the data?
Australia is a Federation of very young states, whose unification dates back to 1901. We
say young people because at that time it was not even 125 years since the British invasion (1788)
and the aboriginal territorial conception was (and is) in a logic outside of Comparison with the
western one (Cameron, 2013). A virgin territory of exploitation of resources and that wanted to
(re) be constructed by obviating and exterminating the past: a favorable scenario for emigration.
In 2011, it was estimated that only 3% of the Australian population was aboriginal (Muytjens
and Ball, 2016).
But when it comes to deciding who can enter the country, there have always been
discriminations. Already in the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901, a law that would form the
cornerstone of what is known as the White Australian Policy (WPA), the preference for English
and white migrants (from northeastern Europe) was discriminated. Throughout the twentieth
century, the WPA remained in force, but the restrictions were eased, first receiving 170,000
people released from Nazi concentration and extermination camps and subsequently receiving
political refugees from central and eastern Europe during the War Cold
But the biggest change took place in 1975 when, due to the arrival by sea of 2,000
Vietnamese to Australian lands and 100,000 in total to nearby countries , the government
decided to end the WPA. Non-Westerners / Europeans also came to be welcomed, and Australia

Australian Punitive Policy Responses to Refugees 3
made a great effort for the first time when it came to resettle them, because it was the one who
coordinated the regional action.
But 14 years later, in response to another wave of migration - in this case, China - the
Migration Legislation Amendment Act was approved , whose objective was to deter future
entries. Arrivals in Australian territory became considered illegal and, in the same vein, in 1992
the first 'mandatory detentions' began to be made while verifying the authenticity of the asylum
application. Australia then became the first country considered democratic that carried out this
type of action, thus violating the agreements of the Convention on the Status of Refugees. Some
actions that form the axis of current policies on migration
In 2001, after the one known as Tampa Affair , Australia decided to launch the Pacific
Solution . This plan (2001-07; 2012-13) consisted of three axes: l imitate Australian migratory
zones; prevent the entry of ships with immigrants into Australian waters through marine frigates;
and complement the existing offer with the opening of two immigration detention camps on the
islands of Manus (Papua New Guinea) and Nauru, which are known as Offshore Detention
Centers .
In 2007, the arrival of the Labor Party (which had supported the Liberal Party's policy
until then) meant the closure of Nauru and Manus and was aimed at resolving all asylum requests
in 3 months. Likewise, it was decided to subsidize the countries where the ships loaded with
immigrants (Indonesia, basically) came from with money destined to fight against those that
were designated as mafias smugglers of people. But in 2012, a new escalation in the number of
arrivals by sea led to a turn of the government and the return to the Pacific Solution and the
reopening of the fields.The refugees have undergone immense and unavoidable suffering in the
hands of these people. Those seeking their protection from the government are referred as the