PICT110 - A Comprehensive Analysis of Securing Australia's Borders

This essay provides an introduction to security studies, focusing on ways to secure Australian borders against external threats such as illegal immigration, organized crime, and terrorism. It emphasizes the importance of tightening naval forces to control illegal entries by sea, conducting systematic checks on citizens from countries with sympathetic views towards terrorist groups, and revoking the citizenship of dual nationals involved in terrorist activities. The essay also highlights the need to prevent drug trafficking by canceling visas of individuals involved, enhancing border security to facilitate legitimate business, and increasing the number of trained security forces to combat human trafficking. Furthermore, it suggests the adoption of the latest technologies for monitoring illegal activities and empowering border forces to take immediate action against illegal immigrants, concluding that strict regulations and increased resources are essential for securing Australian borders.

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO SECURITY STUDIES
Introduction to Security Studies
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1INTRODUCTION TO SECURITY STUDIES
Ways to Secure the Australian Borders
Securing the border should be the priority of any nation, as most of the illegal and
criminal activities occur in the borders of the countries. There is a constant increase in the
external threat to Australia, these threats are manifesting at the border, like organised crimes,
quarantine problems, and other terrorism problems. There are ways in which these security
issues can be controlled, by adopting certain measures these issues can be resolved and
eventually be eliminated. The job of the border security force is not only to secure the borders
but also to capture contrabands and prevent illegal immigration and remain active to counter
terrorism.
The first step, which should be taken to improve the security of the nation, is to stop the
arrival of illegal immigrants from the sea (Little & Williams, 2017). As Australia is located in
the heart of the ocean, priority should be give to tighten the naval forces to secure the most
vulnerable border. When the Labour government had come to power in 2007, there was an
increase in the arrival of illegal immigrants in boats and a lot of deaths were reported (Lueck,
Due & Augoustinos, 2015). Several children who had come into the country by illegal means
were detained in the detention centres. The border security failed to protect the border and it was
a disaster. To recall from this massive failure more attention should be provided to secure the
waterways.
There are many countries, which have sympathetic feelings towards the terrorist groups,
so while allowing the citizens belonging to such countries the government of Australia should
not provide them with permanent citizenship and should have a systematic check upon those
individuals as they might pose threat to the nation (Hogan & Haltinner, 2015). Revoking the

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citizenship of a “dual-national” who have been involved in some act of terrorism or has been
convicted for some terrorist activities will protect the interest of the nation.
Another way to secure Australian borders is to stop the entry of drugs into the country.
The visas of the people related to drug trafficking or the drug lords should be cancelled so that
they are unable to continue their criminal activities (Hodge, 2015). People who are suspected of
having criminal connections should be prevented to enter the country. The border security should
be designed in such a way to facilitate legitimate business across the border. Another major issue
faced by the country is the illegal trafficking of the humans. To stop the illegal human trafficking
the number of people in the security force has to be increased and when they will catch such an
illegal operation they should have the power to take immediate action to nullify the threat.
The forces who are involved in securing the borders should be trained in a special way to
adopt with the circumstance, to learn new ways to apprehend the criminals and also to familiarise
themselves with new rules and regulations (Chambers, 2015). The fate of the border security lies
with the efficiency of the border forces. They should also be given the power to take matters into
their own hands and take primary action against the illegal immigrants.
Another step that can be taken to improve the security of the border, by using latest
technologies (Vogl, 2015). Using latest technologies in monitoring the illegal activities
happening at the border will help in controlling the same with a much higher success rate.
To conclude, the Australian border is the origin of major criminal activities, thus strict
regulations should be imposed on the borders to secure it from all sorts of illegal activities. The
number of soldiers should be increased in the border security force; they should be provided with

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the latest technologies and should also be given ample power to take strict actions against the
criminals.

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Reference List:
Chambers, P. (2015). The embrace of border security: maritime jurisdiction, national
sovereignty, and the geopolitics of Operation Sovereign Borders. Geopolitics, 20(2), 404-
437.
Hodge, P. (2015). A grievable life? The criminalisation and securing of asylum seeker bodies in
the ‘violent frames’ of Australia’s Operation Sovereign Borders. Geoforum, 58, 122-131.
Hogan, J., & Haltinner, K. (2015). Floods, invaders, and parasites: Immigration threat narratives
and right-wing populism in the USA, UK and Australia. Journal of Intercultural
Studies, 36(5), 520-543.
Little, A., & Vaughan-Williams, N. (2017). Stopping boats, saving lives, securing subjects:
Humanitarian borders in Europe and Australia. European Journal of International
Relations, 23(3), 533-556.
Lueck, K., Due, C., & Augoustinos, M. (2015). Neoliberalism and nationalism: Representations
of asylum seekers in the Australian mainstream news media. Discourse & Society, 26(5),
608-629.
Vogl, A. (2015). Over the Borderline: A Critical Inquiry into the Geography of Territorial
Excision and the Securititsation of the Australian Border. UNSWLJ, 38, 114.