Sociology Essay: Australian Policies on Asylum Seekers and Refugees

This sociology essay examines the Australian government's policies and practices concerning asylum seekers and refugees. It explores the historical context, legal frameworks, and the current humanitarian programs in place, while also analyzing the challenges associated with managing asylum claims. The essay delves into the detention of asylum seekers, including the controversial offshore processing centers in Nauru and Manus Island, and the impact of these policies on individuals and the broader society. Furthermore, the essay addresses the political debates surrounding asylum policies, including the role of the military, strict border control measures like 'Operation Sovereign Borders', and the public perception of asylum seekers. It also highlights the strict visa conditions and the difficulties faced by refugees in Australia, including restrictions on family reunification and access to citizenship. The essay concludes by providing a comprehensive overview of the current Australian policies and the ongoing concerns related to the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees, offering a critical perspective on the complexities of this issue.

Running Head: Sociology
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
Essay
System04104
4/13/2019

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Introduction
The matter of Asylum and refugees in Australia is governed and statutes and several
government policies which seek to implement the obligation of Australian government under
the ‘Convention relating to the status of refugees’. From the last two decades, thousands of
asylum seekers arrived in Australia, which exceeds than the annual refugee quota in the
country. The number of asylum and refugees quota in Australia is currently 20,000 people.
From 1945 to the early 1990s, more than half million of refugees and asylum is accepted by
Australia. Historically, there is a large number of asylum, refugees arrived in Australia by
plane, and many of them were also arrived in Australia by boats in the late 2000s and early
2010s. Although, there are many people arrived at Australia as ‘seeking asylum’ but people
in Australia often see them as being the ‘wrong’ way to enter in the country (BBC NEWS,
2017). However, seeking asylum is the most common way through which people ask for
protection from a country and they get protection as well because this way of protection is
supported by the "Refugee Convention" in all over the world. In 2017-18, the Australian
government conducted a humanitarian program at more than 16,250 places and additional
12,000 places for people displaced by conflict in Syria and Iraq. This included 14,825 visas
under the offshore component and 1,425 under the onshore component (Martin, 2015). The
Australian government granted more than 7,909 visas for refugees and 2100 visas for family
included women and children (Department of Home Affairs Australia, 2017-18). However, to
manage these asylum seekers and refugees is a major problem for the government. Because
of this problem, in February 2019, it has been seen that the first time in decades, the
Australian government has lost a vote on its own legislation in the lower house. In the bill
that was opposed by the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, it is mentioned that sick
asylum seekers in offshore centres get treatment in Australia.
Who are Asylum seekers and Refugees?
An asylum seeker is a person who asks or seeking for international protection from a
country and whose claim is yet not been finalised on by the country in which the asylum
seeker has submitted it. A refugee is a person who left their country because of some reason
or fear (because of their race, nationality, fraud, religion etc.) and is unable to return or
unwilling to return their home country. However, it can be said that not every asylum seeker
is a refugee, but every refugee is initially an asylum seeker (Australian Human Right

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Commission, 2019). In 2015-16, Australia intake more than 25000 refugees and asylum
seekers from Iraq and Syria which is more than the Vietnam war when Australia intake
22,545 people as refugees in the country. The Australian government granted humanitarian
visas to these asylum seekers and then process the process to transfer these people in their
respective country after placing them in offshore centres and other places (Hebbani, &
Angus, 2016).
(Source: Issacs, 2018)
The major issue for Australia is the detainment period of asylum seekers. It has been
clearly seen in the fig.1 that Australia has the highest detention period of asylum seekers.
Australian detainment period is 224 days, which is more than the USA, France, Canada, and
Sweden. Another thing that creates problems for the Australian government is pressure on its
economy. It has been observed that the Australian government spend a huge amount on the
asylum seekers and spend 70 million Australian dollars every year (Refugee Council of
Australia, 2018).

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(Source: Silove & Mares, 2018)
Number of Asylum Seekers and Situation in Australia about it
The Australia government is accepting around 13,000-14,000 asylum seekers every
year who are arriving in Australia from Indonesia, Iraq, Syria, etc. These people attempted to
reach Australia by boats and pay a huge amount of money to people smugglers. Hundreds of
asylum seekers died every year in making this dangerous journey to Australia from boats via
seaways from different countries. Australian government operates humanitarian programs to
support these asylum seekers. The Australian government accepted 13,750 people in 2016-17
through its humanitarian programs and committed to one more time acceptance of an
additional 12000 refugee people fleeing from Iraq and Syria. However, at this peak of
humanitarian programs, 18000 people who illegally arrived in Australia via sea that force
Australian government to implement strict policies to stop these boats and illegal refugees
(Cooper, Olejniczak, Lenette, & Smedley, 2017).

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(Source: Higgins, 2016)
In Australia, both ruling and opposition party are supporting a strict asylum policy
that stops these illegal refugees in the country. They say that the journey of asylum seekers is
controlled by dangerous criminal gangs and they can harm the Australian people. Hence, it is
the duty of the Australian government to protect the people and stop the arrival of these types
of asylum people who are trying to illegally arrive in the country. In February 2019, the
Australian Prime minster block a bill that allows the asylum seekers to get treatment in
Australia. According to Morrison, this bill ‘takes control from the government' and
‘unleashes a world of woe'. There are many asylum seekers dead in the two offshore
processing centre of Australia including women and children. They are facing large numbers
of problems and suffering from some chronicle disease. Therefore, the doctors who are
supporting this bill, are already signed a petition and asking the government to pass this bill.
However, the alliance government of Australia believe to make a strict Australia's asylum
policy and give full control to military forces to control the asylum operations. The
Australian government in 2017 was looking for introducing ‘Operations sovereign Borders'
under which the military forces patrolling Australian water and soil border, and intercept
every boat of asylum seekers and towing them back to their respective country. However,

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people who are against it, says that asylum is often racially motivated and is the damaging
reputation of Australia. However, when asylum seekers reach Australia, they are not allowed
to live in Australia rather government send them in an offshore processing centre (Ziersch,
Walsh, Due, & Duivesteyn, 2017).
Fig: Data extracted from DIBP: Operation Sovereign Borders Monthly Updates.
(Source: VanKooy & Bowman, 2019)
Currently, Australia has two such centres. The first centre is located in PacificPacific
island nation of Nauru and the second offshore processing centre is located in Manus Island
in Papua New Guinea, where these asylum seekers are kept while the government is
processing their claims. Although, these people are not allowed to settle in Australia and send
in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, the poor hygiene, cramped condition, inadequate basic
facilities, and lack of necessary resources in these centres make them ill and create too many
problems for their health.
Australia’s Asylum Policies
Australia treats refugees in two different ways. From many decades, Australia plays a
vital role in detaining and protecting refugees in the country. The Australian government

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make several policies to protect and help the asylum seekers to settle in Australia who came
from different countries. The commitment of Australian government is more valuable in
these days because, in recent time, it is harder than ever to provide safe and secure protection
for asylum people not only in Australia rather than in any part of the world. However, the
Australian policies towards the asylum seekers in from last decade leading the world in the
opposite direction because Australia makes the asylum-related policies to complex and strict
(Anderson, 2018).
From last few years, Australian is stopping people who are coming in Australia from
boats or plane as asylum seekers. If any refugee is captured by the Australian government,
they are sent to poor countries like New Papua New Guinea and Nauru where they cannot get
a dignified or safe life. In these places, refugees and asylum seekers are detained for years.
However, there is no time limit to detain these asylum people, neither any have independent
reviews whether they should be detained or not (Hocking, Kennedy, & Sundram, 2015).
People spending more than years in administrative detention and some of them spend more
than nine years even without committing any crime. It has been also considered that people
were barred from working for years, and not receive any real help from the Australian
government to settle in the country (Hartley & Pedersen, 2015). The government takes many
years to precede their claims and asylum people are detained in a poor country where even
basic facilities are not available to live. This case is strict when it applies to those asylum and
refugees people who came to Australia by boats. Even when they found to be refugees as per
the Australian government, the punishment continues. The Australian visa policy is also very
strict about the asylum people because they have to apply after every 3-5 years to the
government for residing in Australia. Even they cannot be united with their family members
or even visit them without the permission of the Australian government. The visa condition
of Australia is also different for asylum seekers. It is so strict to those asylum seekers who
arrived in Australia by boat, while it provides some relaxation for those who arrived in
Australia by plane. Although, people came with a valid visa in the country faces less
restriction in compare to those who came by boats, but still, they face enormous challenges in
the country. Life of Asylum seekers and refugees in Australia, whether they resettled or came
to Australia seeking asylum, is so temporary. The current government has begun even the
permanent visa of refugees, and delaying or denying refugees to give citizenship of the
country even they are not committed to any crime in past (Pedersen & Hartley, 2017).

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Current Australian Policies and concerns
The current Australian policy is one of the punitive policies in the world about asylum
and refugees people. People who seek protection as an asylum in Australia are forced back by
the Australian navy if they entered in the Australian water territory. If these people come to
Australia by plane then they turned around at the same time or sent back in their respective
country after being a short detained. Moreover, even if they caught in the country, then they
sent to Nauru or Papua New Guinea (Puvimanasinghe, Denson, Augoustinos, &
Somasundaram, 2015). Now Australian policies are very strict about the asylum people who
seek protection in the country. The policies are formed in such a way that prevents asylum
people to enter the country. The ‘Operation Sovereign Borders' is restricting people to enter
the country by boats. The military forces involved in intercepting every boat and turning
them back to where they came from (Crawford, Turpin, Nayar, Steel, & Durand, 2016).
In theory, those people/boats, which are intercepted by the Australian navy, have
opportunities to raise claims for protection. However, it is very difficult to assess the whole
process because the Australian government claimed that water matter would not be disclosed
by the authorities as it could help or provide sensitive information to the smugglers. The
Australian government keep the operation secret and do not want to talk about this matter
anymore (Taylor & Gray, 2016). Apart from this, the Australian government give full
authority to airways company to check the passengers and their visas whether they come in
Australia for a genuine reason or not. People who belong to those countries which have a
history of seeking asylums, such as Iraq and Syria are also subject to strict inspection that
why they want to arrive in the country. The immigration officials in Australia immediately
cancel the visa of those people who arrived by plane and not having a proper reason to
entered in the country. If they found that a person's purpose is not that stated on their visa
they immediately sent the person back to their home country or detain them. The immigration
officers have extensive powers to check all the property or belongings of the person,
including phones and other devices. Thus, now the approach of the country against the
asylum seeker and refugees is very strict and country in not entertaining these types of people
within the territory (Phillips, Karlsen, & Digest, 2019).
If a person is asking for asylum without ant permission or visa or a right kind of permission
(a valid visa), then the Australian law applies on the person and he/she can be detained by the
Australian administrative officers unless the minister decides otherwise. They asylum people

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also cannot apply for protection to the Australian government unless the minister personally
decides otherwise. As discussed earlier in the present work, the detention of those asylum
people is compulsory who arrived at Australia by boats and detention dates are considered by
the government from the beginning of people seeking asylum by boat. This means the person
can be offer relaxation only by Australian court if asylum seekers have a valid visa. Court has
the right to review the detention of such people (Worldvision.com, 2017). There is no
administrative process for review of such type of asylum seekers issues in Australia.
Although, there is no maximum time limit to detain an asylum seeker or refugee in Australia
and hence, it is a clear breach of international legal obligations by the Australian government
towards the refugees and asylum seekers.
Temporary Protection
The Australian government is very strict about asylum seekers from 2014. In 2014,
the government brings a law in which there was a term called ‘temporary protection'. This
law applies to those people who entered in Australia by boat and found to be a refugee; they
would get only temporary protection by the Australian government. This law was made by
the current Australian government and it is applied to every asylum seekers who had not been
given a permanent visa by the Australian government. The Australian government also issue
two type of visa for refugees who arrived without a visa in the country: temporary protection
visas (TPVs) and Safe haven enterprise visas (SHEVs). The first one provides 3 years of
temporary protection while the second visa provides 5 years of temporary protection for the
refugee people (Davidson, 2018).
Current situation
The Australian people and opposition party mounting pressure on the ruling
government to safely resettle and transfer all the asylum seekers who held in South Pacific, in
its two offshore centres Papua New Guinea and Nauru. These asylum seekers and refugees
currently held in immigration detention centres. The current Prime Minister of Australia Scott
Morrison facing heavy criticism for the state and offshore detention centres where asylum
seekers are treated like prisoners. The asylum seekers detained in Nauru describe the situation
to the Australian Medical Association that they are facing physical and mental health
problems especially, in children. There is a ‘humanitarian emergency' and the asylum seekers
ask the Australian government to transfer their families to Australia for better treatment and
medical facilities (Hadgkiss & Renzaho, 2016).

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Role of Social worker and practice implications
The role of social work in asylum seekers and refugee’s protection is very important.
They can play an important role in asylum settlement and border protection policy of the
government. As a social worker, the people can develop a migrant resource centre that helps
asylum people to settle and access the basic necessities of life, which is absent in offshore
processing system of the country. The positive action and approaches of social workers force
the Australian government to release the asylum seekers after long detention. The role of
social workers is not only to raise the issue of asylum seekers rather they can also help the
country to re-think about this problem. As a critical social worker, a person should think
about the ‘humanitarian approach’ and help the people who are already homeless and find
protection for their lives. Social worker can help the state and federal government to
formulate a plan that helps these people to send them at their own homes rather than
detention centre. This help can be done in two ways by the social worker and Australian
government. According to the first way, the asylum seekers are allowed a specified housing
through the decision of ‘residence determination' and allowed them all the basic facilities
including education and work for their living. In a second way, the government should
provide permanent protection for thses asylum seekers until they sent back to their own
country (Frelick, Kysel, & Podkul, 2016).
However, there are thousands of people still in the detention of Australian
government and they are living in the country like a prisoner in a jail. They are facing
numbers of restrictions and it is very harder for them to get out from detention centres. It is
even impossible for them to talk or communicate with outsiders because the government has
restricted them to use mobile phones. The social groups and workers should think about these
problems and initiate to government to provide them at least basic facilities like
communication and healthcare facilities. It is also noticeable in the country that the new laws
increased the number of immigration detention as the government has decided to detain those
people who live in Australia in a much broader range of circumstances. The major group that
is affected by this law belongs to New Zealand citizens. The situation of immigration
detention centre is just like a prisoner centre, where people faces a number of restrictions and
treated as a criminal (Koelsch, 2017).

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Conclusion
In conclusion, the situation of asylum seekers in Australia is worst and they are
treated as a prison by the Australian government. They are facing a large number of
restriction, not supported by the Australian government, and even they are restricted to access
the basic facilities such as communication with outsiders and education. The Australian
government adopted a double approach for asylum seekers based on the ways of arrival.
People who entered in Australian by boats and without a visa are treated as criminals while
people who arrived by plane are returned to their home by the administrative and immigration
authorities. However, the situation of two detention centres in South Pacific is also like hail
for the people ask for protection in the country including children. Although the current
government is trying to improve the situation of Asylum seekers in the country, the reality is
different that condition is beyond the “humanitarian emergency situation”. However, it is the
need of time for the Australian government to rethink about this matter again and provide all
the basic facilities to the asylum seekers and decreased the detention periods of asylum
seekers and refugees. The government should think about their obligations towards the
refugees and asylum seekers for which it is responsible in the United Nations (UN) under the
‘Convention for refugees’.

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