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Please note: this website was created in 2003 and there have been several changes in relevant Australian legislation since that time (probably Canadian too). The website is kept online as an overview of the situation at that time but has not and will not be updated.

Australia - Arrival

Photo by R.Schweizer

< Artwork by asylum seeker depicting their journey to Australia.

Case Study


 

"People around me tell me it's going to get better. I find it difficult to get rid of the fear inside me.

 

I want to believe them, but I find it difficult.

 

All I want at the moment is to not think about anything and live a normal life.... a life without thinking.

I haven't been able to live comfortably.

 

Wherever I've been I'd like to be able to live normally, like the everyday Australian, spend time with my kids in peace and quiet.

 

But I still can't do it without the fear. It is still inside me".

 

- Kurdish refugee living in Australia

Historically, refugee arrivals have occured in 'waves' from different source countries. Recent waves of refugees have included Indochinese (following the Vietnam war), Latin Americans, East Timorese, Turks and Cambodians escaping dictatorships of the 1970's and 1980's. In the 1990's refugees arrived from Europe following political changes in Eastern Europe. More recent arrivals have mainly come from the Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Sri lanka.

In 1992 Australia instituted a policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers, those who arrive in the country without proper travel documents seeking refugee status. Detention is immediate, automatic and indefinite in its duration sometimes lasting years. Asylum seekers are held in detention until they are either accepted as refugees or deported.

By contrast, asylum seekers who enter Australia on a valid visa and lodge a claim for protection within 45 days recieve a bridging visa with full work rights and access to enrol in Medicare. They are free to live in the community while their claim is being processed. However, those who apply after the 45 days are denied such rights and are dependent on individuals and charity groups for support.

In response to an increase in the number of people trying to reach Australia by boat and the infamous "Tampa" incident in August 2001, the Australian government established the Pacific Solution to forcibly prevent unauthorised asylum seekers reaching its territory. Further to this, in late September 2001, the Australian parliament passed a number of new laws including The Border Protection Act, to consolide its policies in legislation.

This new legislation affects Australia's immigration policy in the following ways:

  • it redefines who can qualify for refugee status

  • it increases and specifies the government's powers to prevent or remove vessels carrying unauthorised arrivals

  • it rezones the territories which are considered official migration zones

  • it introduces a hierarchy of rights attached to certain visas which follow from the creation of these newly "excised territories" (further information from the Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission)

  • it removes Australia's legal obligations to offer protection to anyone arriving at excised migration zones


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see also: Canadian Tour