when was the last asylum boat arrived in australia
Asylum in Australia


, there was an increasing number of asylum seekers arriving by boat in the late 2000s and early 2010s, which was met with some public disapproval. In 2011-2012, asylum seekers arriving by boat outnumbered those arriving by plane for the first time. Three waves of asylum seekers arriving by boat have been identified: Vietnamese between 1976 and 1981; Indochinese asylum seekers from 1989 to 1998; and people of Middle East origin from 1999. The visa policy of the current government is to detain persons entering or being in Australia without
14891114
Rudd Government (2013)


processing of asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. The flow of asylum seeker boat arrivals to Australia had re-emerged following the first Rudd Government's relaxation of border controls. Following an extended period of increasing boat arrivals and deaths at sea, Gillard announced a resumption of offshore processing in August 2012. The restored Rudd shifted Labor's policy further, announcing that asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat are not allowed to be settled in Australia. Following talks with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Peter O'Neill,
10314230
Asylum in Australia


not a detention centre; the refugees were free to come and go, but remained stateless until granted citizenship by PNG in 2017. The first recorded instance of asylum seekers arriving in Australia via unauthorised boat occurred in April 1976. Fleeing South Vietnam after the Communist Party victory of 1975, an estimated 2,000 "Vietnamese boat people" followed from 1976–1982. The sporadic arrival of unauthorised boats was a cause of concern for the Australian people. The initial controversy regarding asylum seekers in Australia was mostly because of family reunions. Employment and security
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Asylum in Australia


sign when arriving in Australia that largely binds them to certain standards of behaviour while awaiting refugee status determination. This has been received by the community as casting a dark shadow for asylum seekers' experience in Australia, with many of the signees feeling that the agreement creates uncertainty and confusion as to which actions may jeopardise their applications. The effect of the Code of Behaviour has deterred refugees from community events out of fear that their participation could contribute to a denial of their applications. Opinion polls show that boat arrivals have always been an
14891175
Nauru Regional Processing Centre


The last remaining Burmese and Sri Lankan detainees were granted residency rights in Australia. Nauru reacted with concern at the prospect of potentially losing much-needed aid from Australia. In August 2012, the Labor Government led by Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the resumption of the transfer of asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia to Nauru (and Manus Island, PNG). Australia signed an initial Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nauru on 29 August 2012. The first group arrived the following month. The re-opening of the
8865444
Asylum in Australia


or punishment; degrading treatment or punishment. It does not apply when there is no real risk of significant harm, namely when an applicant can safely relocate to another part of the country, or an authority within the country can provide protection. People who arrived by boat on or after 13 August 2012 are not able to propose that their immediate family members also gain entry to Australia. A new "fast track" assessment scheme was introduced in 2014 via the "Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload
14891124
SIEV X


the Indonesian island of Java, killing 353 people. The tragedy was politically controversial in Australia, as it occurred during an election campaign at a time when asylum seekers and border protection were major issues. The SIEV-X incident occurred during the 2001 Australian Federal election campaign. The Tampa affair had focused national media's attention on the issue of asylum seekers. Prime Minister John Howard claimed his policy would prevent people smuggling and stop the boats of asylum seekers from arriving in Australia. The Howard Government had issued instructions to the Royal
6637971
PNG solution


major Australian city after the announcement. The topic of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat has been a highly contentious issue in Australian politics since the government of John Howard. The Pacific Solution policy was first implemented in 2001 following a rising number of arrivals culminating in the Tampa affair and the Children Overboard affair, introduced the practice of intercepting asylum seeker boats and transferring the occupants to the Nauru detention centre for processing, as well as Manus Island OPC in Papua New Guinea. This was successful in slowing the number of asylum seeker
16237065
Asylum in Australia


a valid visa until those persons can be returned to their home country. Australia is the only country in the world with a policy of mandatory detention and offshore processing of asylum seekers who arrive without a valid visa. Asylum policy is a contentious wedge issue in Australian politics, with the two major political parties in Australia arguing that the issue is a border control problem and one concerning the safety of those attempting to come to Australia by boat. Historically, Australia was generally viewed as a world leader in resettling refugees, with more
14891115
Asylum in Australia


800 new asylum seekers for 4,000 long-standing assessed refugees in Malaysia. The so-called Malaysian Solution was eventually ruled unconstitutional by the high court, partly because Malaysia was not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. In 2011, Australia received 2.5% of the world's total number of claims for asylum. During 2012, more than 17,000 asylum seekers arrived via boat. The majority of the refugees came from Afghanistan, Iran, and Sri Lanka. In June 2012, a boatload of asylum seekers capsized in the
14891147
Asylum in Australia


than 870,000 refugees resettled in Australia since World War II. Yet Australia is also one of the world’s poorest in providing durable solutions to people who come here to claim protection – people seeking asylum – especially if they come by boat. This dichotomy has persisted into the present. The processing of people seeking asylum that have arrived in Australia for status determination has undergone significant change over the past decade. The process for refugee status determination is dynamic, with the government's humanitarian program mainly diverging in process between on-shore and
14891116
Scott Morrison


and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Bill 2014" successfully passed through the Australian Parliament. The bill gave Morrison more power than any previous minister in dealing with people seeking asylum in Australia, including the power to return asylum seekers to their place of origin, detain asylum seekers without charge, and refuse asylum seekers who arrive by boat access to the Refugee Review Tribunal. The bill reintroduced temporary protection visas to deal specifically with the backlog of 30,000 people who had arrived under the previous Labor Government but who
15097479
Asylum in Australia


had (not been) a successful people smuggling venture" in the period. In July 2013, Rudd, who had recently returned to power as Prime Minister, announced that anyone who arrived in Australia by boat without a visa would not be eligible for asylum. In co-operation with Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, the Regional Settlement Agreement was drafted. Under the agreement, new asylum seekers would be sent to Papua New Guinea where legitimate cases would be granted asylum in that, but would lose any right to
14891150
Racism in Australia


Australian average. They did, however, experience higher rates of robbery, overall. The study could not sample incidents of crime that were not reported. Additionally, multiple surveys of international students over the period of 2009-10 found a majority of Indian students felt safe. Commentators have accused the Australian Government of racism in its approach to Asylum seekers in Australia. Both major parties support a ban on asylum seekers who arrive by boat. Australia operates the Pacific Solution which includes the relocation asylum seekers. Former Minister for Immigration and
2023456
Abbott Government


, Morrison announced the closure of four mainland detention centres. On 4 February 2014, he said that no asylum seeker boats had reached Australia for 36 days, which was the longest stretch in almost five years. "This is the longest period of no illegal boat arrivals since March of 2009, when arrivals first started to significantly escalate as a consequence of the former Labor Government's decision to abolish the strong border protection regime they inherited from the Howard Government", Morrison told reporters. The government apologised to Indonesia after Australian Navy
19592171
2012 Australian federal budget


managing asylum seeker boat arrivals has increased to $1.003 billion from an earlier estimate of $739 million. The number of asylum seekers entering Australia by boat is currently at its highest level ever. Funding for the Australian Bureau of Statistics is being reduced by $255 million and the CSIRO is set to lose $25 million. Smaller cuts are also planned for the Australian National Library, National Film and Sound Archive and the National Museum of Australia. The budget allocated $131.6 billion to social security and welfare spending. On 30
18627107
Illegal immigration to Australia


boat arrivals from Indochina. As a signatory to the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, Australia operates a humanitarian intake of migrants of around 13,770 persons per year (by comparison, Australia's Migration Program was 168,600 places in 2009–10). Those who have not gained prior approval to enter Australia for the purpose of seeking asylum were referred to as irregular arrivals. There are two classifications for irregular arrivals: Illegal Maritime Arrivals (IMAs; prior to 2013 the term "Irregular Maritime Arrivals" was used) and Non
13297802
Tampa affair


of people attempted to travel to Australia by boat to seek asylum as refugees. Many of these arrived off Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, some 2000 km off the north-west coast of Australia and 500 km south of Jakarta, Indonesia. Hundreds of people arrived on tightly packed, unseaworthy vessels, and many paid large amounts of money to people smugglers for their passage to Australia. At dawn on 24 August 2001, a 20-metre wooden fishing boat, the "Palapa 1", with 438 (
4746699
Christmas Island


Australia ruled, in a 7–0 joint judgment, that asylum seekers detained on Christmas Island were entitled to the protections of the Migration Act. Accordingly, the Commonwealth was obliged to afford asylum seekers a minimum of procedural fairness when assessing their claims. , after the interception of four boats in six days, carrying 350 people, the Immigration Department stated that there were 2,960 "irregular maritime arrivals" being held in the island's five detention facilities, which exceeded not only the "regular operating capacity" of 1,094 people, but also
5322047
Asylum in Australia


before being granted refugee status. In 1999, Middle Eastern immigrants fleeing from oppressive regimes in Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq began to arrive in large numbers. The Howard Government extended the time they spent in mandatory detention and introduced temporary protection visas for boat arrivals. The deterrents did little to stop immigrants; roughly 12,000 asylum seekers reached Australia from 1999 to 2001. In August 2001, a Norwegian freight ship, the "Tampa", picked up 438 people whose vessel was sinking off the coast of Indonesia. Captain Rinnan first tried
14891136
Julia Gillard


announced that Australia and Malaysia were finalising an arrangement to exchange asylum seekers. Gillard and Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said they were close to signing a bilateral agreement which would result in 800 asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat being taken to Malaysia instead. Australia would take 4,000 people from Malaysia who have previously been assessed as being refugees. However, on 31 August, the High Court ruled that the agreement to transfer refugees from Australia to Malaysia was invalid, and ordered that it not proceed. Australia would still accept 4,000 people
1797826
Immigration detention in Australia


immigration detention and deported, some after living in Australia for a long period. Mandatory detention of asylum seekers (technically, "unlawful arrivals") in Australia was established by the Keating Government by the "Migration Reform Act 1992" which came into operation on 1 September 1994. It was originally intended as an interim measure. Controls on unauthorised arrivals were tightened under the subsequent Howard Government, including under the Pacific Solution policy, contributing to a sharp decline in boat arrivals and, consequently, to numbers of people being detained.
7400416
Immigration detention in Australia


. The Houston Report found that "onshore processing encourages people to jump into boats" and called for the re-opening of offshore processing at Nauru and Manus Island. Gillard endorsed the plan in August 2012. On 19 July 2013 in a joint press conference with PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd detailed the Regional Resettlement Arrangement (RRA) between Australia and Papua New Guinea: "From now on, any asylum seeker who arrives in Australia by boat will have no chance of being settled in Australia as
7400448
History of Australia


laws to discourage people arriving by boat without authorisation. These policies included the Pacific Solution, which involved detaining asylum seekers in detention centres in Naru and Papua New Guinea while their refugee status was determined, as well as a policy of turning back vessels intercepted at sea. Two significant controversies involving asylum seekers were the Children Overboard affair and the Tampa Affair. While Australia maintained traditional links to the Commonwealth and strong support for the United States alliance, trade with Asia during this period continued to increase dramatically, particularly with China. Australia
18309060
Immigration detention in Australia


population) who arrived in Australia lawfully and were subsequently taken into immigration detention for either overstaying their visa conditions, resulting in visa cancellation. Following an extended period of increasing boat arrivals and deaths at sea, in May 2011 Gillard announced that Australia and Malaysia were "finalising" an arrangement to exchange asylum seekers for processed refugees (the plan was dubbed the "Malaysia Solution"). On 31 August the High Court ruled that the agreement to transfer refugees from Australia to Malaysia was invalid, and ordered that it not proceed on
7400445
Immigration detention in Australia


"temporary protection visas" for unauthorised arrivals, and a policy of turning back boats where possible. The Rudd Government dismantled all three components, dubbing them "ineffectual and wasteful". Throughout 2009–2010, a flow of boat arrivals re-emerged. In July 2008, the Australian government announced it was ending its policy of automatic detention for asylum seekers who arrive in the country without visas. While it remained committed to the policy of mandatory detention as an "essential component of strong border control", the Rudd Government announced that
7400434
Asylum in Australia


the incentive for refugees to come to Australia. While detained offshore, asylum-seekers under the Pacific Solution were denied access to Australian lawyers and to protection under Australian law. The combination of the boat arrivals and the September 11 were said to have turned the November 2001 election in John Howard's favour. At the time, the minority Labor Party opposed the policy. In 2003, Julia Gillard, then shadow minister for Population and Immigration, promised that Labor would end the Pacific Solution "because it is costly, unsustainable and
14891140
Asylum in Australia


federal election on 7 September 2013, Abbott led the Liberal/National coalition to victory, to a large degree on the popularity of his "Stop the boats" slogan, after nearly 19,000 refugees had arrived by boat in the previous year (despite the number being relatively low by world standards). The Abbott government clamped down further on boat arrivals, naming their strategy Operation Sovereign Borders. This was implemented by then immigration minister Scott Morrison and continued by successor Peter Dutton from December 2014 and under prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Scott
14891155
Rudd Government (2013)


Rudd announced in July 2013 that all asylum seekers arriving to Australia by boat would be sent to Papua New Guinea for processing, to tackle people smuggling and refugees that seek asylum without a visa. The announcement was made by the Prime Minister, alongside Tony Burke and O'Neill. A new Regional Resettlement Arrangement was also signed to implement the policy. Following the announcement, detainees at the processing centre at Nauru rioted. On 5 August, Rudd announced that asylum seekers would also be processed and "resettled" on Nauru. The leader
10314231
Asylum in Australia


Rudd's announcement, Indonesia announced it would toughen requirement for Iranians seeking visas, a change that had been requested by Australia. An Indonesia spokesperson denied that the change in policy was because of an Australian request. "The New York Times" reported that more than 600 asylum seekers had died en route to Australian territory between 2009 and 2013. According to the Morrison Government in 2019, more than 50,000 people had arrived by boat and at least 1,200 people drowned at sea during the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years. At the
14891154
LGBT rights in Australia


the immigration officials involved. In 2014, then-immigration minister Scott Morrison introduced further changes which made it even more difficult for LGBTI refugees to prove the merits of their claim for asylum, such as narrowing the scope of protections and implementing a fast-track mechanism that may make it more difficult to gather necessary evidence to support an asylum claim. Australia's strict policy of mandatory detention and offshore processing for unauthorised boat arrivals has been criticised by non-government organisations including the ILGA, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, with
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Operation Sovereign Borders


seekers, came ashore at Cikepuh in West Java. A second containing 34 people arrived at Pangandaran on 5 February. "The" "Daily Telegraph" reported that the Australian government was believed to have purchased eleven of the capsules from Singapore at a cost of around $500,000. In May 2014, Australia was alleged to have placed two persons who had arrived earlier in the year onto a boat with other asylum seekers which was turned back to Indonesia. In January 2015, Minister Dutton announced that 15 vessels, containing 429 asylum
1283360
Immigration detention in Australia


by the Rudd government from July 2013 were the primary cause for the major reduction seen in boat arrivals over the 2013 - 2014 period, according to research conducted by former Immigration Department chief John Menadue and Australian National University migration expert Peter Hughes. During the 2013 federal election the Coalition parties led by Tony Abbott strongly campaigned on a "stop the boats" slogan. Following the election the newly elected Abbott Government toughened policies to stop asylum seekers arriving by boat and launched Operation Sovereign Borders. A feature of the new government's policy
7400450
Asylum in Australia


knowledge of the area, including family or friends that were in Australia prior to their arrival. Nonetheless, there are recurrent difficulties that surface continuously in asylum seeker communities across Australia, in the interim between arrival and refugee status determination. For asylum seekers that arrive in Australia and receive a temporary protection visa (subclass 785), they are given the right to live in the community and are largely given autonomy to choose housing. The Australian government does not provide services to link asylum seekers with potential housing. Their ephemeral status in
14891167
Asylum in Australia


of asylum seekers arrived from Somalia without documentation. They were detained at Villawood Immigration Detention Centre for 18 months without any progress on their status. Some began a hunger strike in response to the prolonged detention. Eventually, all were determined to be genuine refugees. In the mid-1990s, numerous boats carrying Chinese and Sino-Vietnamese refugees were returned to their place of origin after asylum claims were denied. The rapid repatriations meant that many citizens were unaware of the refugees. During this period a refugee from Indonesia was detained for 707 days
14891135
LGBT rights in Australia


protect themselves in their home countries by hiding their sexuality. The decision making process for assessing LGBT asylum claims lacks consistency and relies on stereotypes such as whether the person attended gay clubs or joined lesbian groups. In 2013, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd introduced a new asylum policy which meant that all asylum seekers arriving by boat would be sent offshore to Manus Island in Papua New Guinea for processing and resettlement. This included gay refugees, even though they face persecution under Papua New Guinean law with homosexual acts criminalised and a potential penalty of
4468898
List of concentration and internment camps


and Italian immigrants, many were later transferred to Tatura in Victoria (4,721 Italian immigrants were interned in Australia). The Department of Immigration and Border Protection currently jointly manages two immigration centres on Nauru and Manus Island with the host governments of Nauru and Papua New Guinea, for the indefinite detention of asylum seekers attempting to reach Australia by boat. The claims of the asylum seekers to refugee status are processed in these centres. They are a part of the Australian government's policy that asylum seekers attempting to reach Australia by boat will
4641256
Immigration detention in Australia


The Pacific Solution was dismantled by the Rudd Government and partially restored under the Gillard Government in response to increased boat arrivals and reported deaths at sea. Mandatory detention was introduced to "support the integrity of Australia's immigration program" and "management of Australian borders" and to distinguish between those who have submitted themselves to offshore entry processes prior to arrival and those who have not. Under the policy, asylum seekers are mandatorily detained while they "undergo an assessment process, including security and health checking, to establish if they have
7400417
PNG solution


with Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono where they discussed asylum seeker issues, but played down expectations of a policy announcement. On 15 July he and Immigration Minister Tony Burke visited Papua New Guinea to discuss asylum seeker policy, in light of a UN Refugee Agency report saying the Manus Island detention centre did not meet international standards. On 19 July 2013 Rudd, Burke and Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O'Neill announced the policy in Brisbane. Rudd declared "From now on, any asylum seeker who arrives in Australia by boat will have
16237070
Refugees in New Zealand


the asylum claims each year beginning in the late 1990s. In 2016, only 387 refugee status applications were received, with 32% found to be genuine. New Zealand is one of a handful of countries that takes the majority of their refugees through a quota system. New Zealand has had a long-standing concern about boat arrivals of asylum seekers. New Zealand has been an active participant in the Bali Process to prevent boat arrivals. No mass boat arrival has ever made it to New Zealand, although small numbers of arrive
11774173
Operation Sovereign Borders


Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB) is a border protection operation led by the Australian Defence Force, aimed at stopping maritime arrivals of asylum seekers to Australia. The operation is the outcome of a 2013 federal election policy of the Coalition, which commenced on 18 September 2013 after the election of the Abbott Government. The operation has implemented a "zero tolerance" posture towards so-called "illegal boat arrivals" in Australia, in conjunction with mandatory detention in offshore detention facilities. The current Commander Operation Sovereign Borders, Major General Craig
1283350
Children Overboard affair


The Children Overboard affair was an Australian political controversy involving public allegations by Howard Government ministers in October 2001, in the lead-up to a federal election, that seafaring asylum seekers had thrown children overboard in a presumed ploy to secure rescue and passage to Australia. The government's handling of this and other events involving unauthorised arrivals worked to its advantage. The "Tampa" affair had led the government to adopt stricter border protection measures to prevent unauthorised arrivals from reaching Australia by boat. Polls indicated the measures had public support.
5419071
Plaintiff M70/2011 v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship


Plaintiff M70/2011 & Plaintiff M106 of 2011 by his Litigation Guardian v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, was a 6-1 decision, of the High Court of Australia, regarding the movement of asylum seekers to Malaysia under an Australian government policy known colloquially as "the Malaysian Solution". The plaintiffs, were citizens of Afghanistan who arrived at the Australian territory of Christmas Island by boat from Indonesia. The second plaintiff was aged 16 and arrived in Australia without a parent or guardian. They were subject to the Malaysian Solution under which
907325
Abbott Government


arrivals. In April 2015, ABC Fact Check reported that Abbott's promise to stop the boats had been delivered: "The Government launched Operation Sovereign Borders on September 18, 2013, when it took office. Boats continued to arrive for the remainder of 2013, at a rate of five to seven per month. The picture changed in January 2014. Since then only one boat, carrying 157 asylum seekers, has arrived." Labor had abandoned offshore processing in 2008, but reintroduced the policy shortly before losing office. An
19592167
Gillard Government


as a policy area requiring improvement. In response to growing numbers of boat arrivals and deaths at sea, the Gillard government revised Labor's position on asylum seeker policy and adopted support for offshore processing. It elected not to re-open offshore processing centres established under the Howard Government, and instead sought other arrangements in the region—notably through the announcement of a limited people-exchange arrangement with Malaysia. The Malaysian proposal involved Australia sending 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia in exchange for 4000 processed refugees. However, the plan was
20129309
Abbott Government


41 asylum seekers on a boat intercepted west of the Cocos Islands had been returned to Sri Lanka, following an "enhanced screening process" at sea. Plaintiffs sought an injunction on the transfer of a further 153 asylum seekers from. The Government told the High Court there remained 157 asylum seekers, who were on an Indian flagged vessel that had departed from Pondicherry, India. These asylum seekers were transferred from Cocos Islands to Western Australia to be granted access to Indian consular officials. The Government said that when these asylum seekers "
19592175
Scott Morrison


comes on a boat to Australia [...] they will go to people who have come the right way". Morrison defended his use of the terms "illegal arrivals" and "illegal boats", saying that "I've always referred to illegal entry ... I've never claimed that it's illegal to claim asylum." During his time as Immigration Minister, Morrison's dealings with the media and accountability to the public were widely criticised by journalists, Labor and Greens senators, and others for refusing to provide details about
15097476
Asylum in Australia


deal struck with the Australian government. Over the period from the Abbott government through to the Morrison government, arrivals dropped to around 1,200. However, the conditions of those left on the islands has continued to garner national and worldwide attention. Immigration law specialist Professor Mary Crock said there was no statistical evidence that offshore processing itself deterred asylum seekers; it was rather boat push-backs that were more successful. People had become aware of the human cost as well as the monetary cost. "We've spent more on this than
14891159
Ice and Fire (charity)


, Australia, in September 2001, in the wake of a series of aggressive and controversial actions by the Australian government towards asylum seekers arriving by boat. Founding members Alice Garner and Kate Atkinson wanted to use Australian actors to influence community attitudes toward refugees and asylum seekers and to encourage a humanitarian response to their plight. The UK actors' network was launched in June 2006 at Amnesty International and now consists of well over 300 professional actors and musicians. The outreach network responds to requests for rehearsed readings of documentary plays and they can
69093
Angry Anderson


the Coalition net a four-percent swing in the seat. In 2012, Anderson participated in the SBS doco-reality show "Go Back To Where You Came From", in which six Australians, each with differing opinions on Australia's asylum seeker debate, were taken on a journey to which refugees have taken to reach Australia. At the outset of the series Anderson says that "boat people" who arrive in Australia illegally should be sent back to their countries of origin: "If you come here illegally, I
11212952
Immigration history of Australia


island, Australia was not required to provide access to the Australian courts or permanent settlement. Australia still adheres to its international obligations by considering such refugee applications offshore and providing temporary protection visas to those in genuine need of protection. By 2004, the number of unauthorised boat arrivals had been reduced dramatically. The government argued that this was the result of its strong policy towards asylum seekers. Others argued that the decrease was the result of global factors, such as changing circumstances in the primary source nations of Afghanistan and Iraq. In
17134722
Asylum in Australia


processing of claims for people seeking asylum. While the onshore humanitarian program is common across most signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it is Australia's offshore detention policy that is the most controversial and widely criticized by civil society members. Australia is the only nation-state that currently employs a policy of shifting potential people seeking asylum by boat to other nation-states for processing of asylum claims. This policy receives support from both major political parties. In July 2019 it was estimated that there were about 30,000 people living in Australia
14891121
List of concentration and internment camps


never be permitted to settle in Australia, even if they are found to be refugees, but may be settled in other countries. The clear intention of the Australian government's policy is to deter asylum seekers attempting to reach Australia by boat. The great majority of boats come from Indonesia, which is used as a convenient jumping-off point for asylum seekers from other countries who want to reach Australia. These centres are not UNHCR endorsed refugee camps, and the operation of these facilities has caused controversy, such as allegations of
4641257
Gillard Government


and Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said they were close to signing a bilateral agreement which would result in 800 asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat being taken to Malaysia instead and Australia would take 4,000 people from Malaysia who had previously been assessed as refugees. On 31 August the High Court ruled that the agreement to transfer refugees from Australia to Malaysia was invalid, and ordered that it not proceed the on the basis that it contravened human rights protections established under existing laws. In an unusual attack on the judiciary, the Gillard questioned
20129317
Asylum in Australia


of Syrian and Iraqi refugees owing to particular circumstances in ongoing conflicts. (This was part of a far broader migration program for the year; the total number of migrants was 225,941.) The rate of arrivals by boat, the most controversial aspect of Australia's refugee policy, has been exceptionally volatile. It reached a peak of 20,587 people in 2013 (excluding crew), before falling again to zero two years later: A "fact check" produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation News and RMIT concluded that then Attorney-General
14891128
Modern Cambodia


, many problems such as illegal deforestation are occurring. Australia is paying Cambodia money to resettle in Cambodia, some asylum seekers who arrived by boat on Australian shores. Australia is expected to give Cambodia tens of millions of dollars for accepting the refugees who will be expected to assimilate into a society where '40 per cent of people live in poverty'. They will have no rights to be transferred to another country. That action has been met with widespread condemnation by human rights groups. Cambodia, a resource sparse country with a
1750706
Asylum in Australia


seekers travelled by boat to Australia in the 2007–08 financial year. In 2008, there were 161 immigrants under asylum laws; in 2009, claims jumped to 2,800; in 2009-10, more than 5,000 people came. The issue quickly became a political problem for Rudd. He claimed it was a change in the international political environment that caused the increase, not the abandonment of the Pacific Solution. When that idea failed to be accepted, he proposed what became known as the Indonesian Solution. Under the plan, Indonesia would
14891143
Religion in Australia


senior Sydney cleric, Sheikh Taj El-Din Hilaly also stirred controversy, particularly his remarks regarding "female modesty" following an incident of gang rape in Sydney Australians were among the targets of Islamic Fundamentalists in the Bali bombings in Indonesia and attack on Australian Embassy in Jakarta and the South East Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah has been of particular concern to Australians. The Australian government's mandatory detention processing system for asylum seekers became increasingly controversial after the 11 September attacks. A significant proportion of recent Asylum seekers arriving by boat have been
13655724
Asylum in Australia


receive financial aid and intelligence in exchange for cracking down on the people smugglers that transported the asylum seekers. In October 2009, the Australian customs boat "Oceanic Viking" was involved in an operation to apprehend 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers and move them to an Australia-funded immigration detention centre on the Indonesian island of Bintan for processing. The asylum seekers were taken to Indonesia but refused to disembark until 17 November, after a deal was agreed upon. The asylum seekers were transferred to Indonesian detention, and after a month were
14891144
History of Western Australia


the Australian parliament, and the movement lapsed with an improving economy and generous federal grants. When Australia's first inhabitants arrived on the northwest coast 40,000 to 60,000 years ago the sea levels were much lower. The Kimberley coast at one time was only about 90 km from Timor, which itself was the last in a line of closely spaced islands for humans to travel across. Therefore, this was a possible (even probable) location for which Australia's first immigrants could arrive via some primitive boat. Other possible immigration routes were
5172262
Abbott Government


analysis by former Immigration Department chief John Menadue and Australian National University migration expert Peter Hughes regards the downturn in boat arrivals to have begun after the Second Rudd Government announcement that asylum seekers would not be settled in Australia, and other measures undertaken by the Rudd Government to resettle refugees elsewhere. In July 2015, the Labor Opposition voted to abandon its opposition to the Abbott government's "turn-back-the-boats" policy. Immigration spokesman said the Party also needed the "full suite of measures to stop deaths at sea
19592168
Pacific Solution


in boat people and deaths at sea. This is expected to cost $2 billion over four years for Nauru and $900 million for Papua New Guinea. The bill to do so was passed on 16 August 2012. Asylum seekers who arrive by boat to Australia are now to be transferred to remote Pacific islands indefinitely while their claims to refugee status are being processed. The Government announced on 21 November 2012 that it was recommencing onshore processing with bridging visas. On 21 November 2012 Immigration Minister Chris Bowen announced the reopening the Pontville
6264867
Communism in Vietnam


famous camps were Bidong in Malaysia, Galang in Indonesia, Bataan in the Philippines and Songkla in Thailand. Some managed to travel as far as Australia in crowded, open boats. While most refugees were resettled in other countries within five years, others languished in these camps for over a decade. In the 1990s, refugees who could not find asylum were deported back to Vietnam. Communities of Vietnamese refugees arrived in the US, Canada, Australia, France, West Germany, and the UK. Vietnam's third Constitution, based
7033509
John Pundari


re-admitted to the Morauta government in April 2000, and he was appointed Minister for Lands and Physical Planning, then Minister for Foreign Affairs in May 2001. In October, he was sacked again, after disagreeing publicly with Morauta on the question of Papua New Guinea's participation in the Australian government's "Pacific solution". Australia had begun deporting to a detention camp in Papua New Guinea asylum seekers who had arrived by boat in Australia; Pundari opposed the sending of 1,000 additional detainees to the camp. He founded the
8774475
Hussain Sadiqi


central Afghanistan to Pakistan, then moving to Indonesia, and finally boarding a fishing boat along with 147 other asylums. It took him three months to reach Australia. Soon after arriving in Australia he was sent to a Detention Center for six months until he was released on a temporary protection visa. After being released he was selected to compete for the Afghan Tae Kwon Do team at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and carry his country flag at the Opening Ceremony. A couple of days before the Games started the International Olympic Committee banned
13582679
Immigration detention in Australia


of unauthorised boat arrivals. Julia Gillard and immigration minister Chris Bowen mooted various regional options for asylum seeker processing – notably East Timor and Malaysia – before reverting to Nauru and Manus Island in late 2012. On 18 October 2010, Julia Gillard announced that changes would be made to Australia's mandatory detention policy, and that more children and families would be moved out of immigration detention centres into community-based accommodation, such as centres run by churches and charities. To accommodate the reduction in detainees, the federal government announced that they
7400441
Rudd Government (2007–2010)


by Sri Lankan and Afghan asylum seekers, who comprised 80 per cent of all boat arrivals, for three and six months respectively. At May 2010 a boatload of refugees were arriving daily causing overcrowding on Christmas Island, West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has been told by Immigration Minister Evans that up to 90 asylum seekers will move to an unused mining camp near Leonora, which is more than north-east of Perth, within days. Government policy towards unauthorised boat arrivals remained controversial for the life of the Rudd Government. During the
686616
Pacific Solution


in 2008, 3,230 in 2009, 3,905 in 2010, 4,052 in 2011, 7,218 in 2012 and 8,332 in 2013. A probable link between restrictive refugee policies and lower attempts at seeking asylum in Australia by boat have been confirmed by the UNHCR: in April 2014, UNHCR Indonesia representative Manual Jordao stated: "Word that the prospects of reaching Australia by boat from Indonesia are now virtually zero appears to have reached smugglers and would-be asylum seekers in countries of origin such as Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Myanmar. The
6264857
Australia–Indonesia relations


issue of people smuggling and the movement of asylum seekers through Indonesia has attracted significant attention in the Australian media, particularly following the Tampa affair and the subsequent introduction of the "Pacific Solution" under the Howard government. Many asylum seekers seeking refuge in Australia transit through Indonesia, often waiting in Indonesia before attempting to reach Australia by boat. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in 2012 there were 1225 refugees and 5429 asylum seekers registered with the United Nations in Indonesia. In 2002, the Bali Process was established
19195740
Living with the Enemy (Australian TV series)


married. "Featuring conservative Anglican minister David Ould from Macquarie Fields and atheist couple from Melbourne, Gregory Storer and Michael Barnett." Episode 2 : Detention Centres In the last twenty years sixty thousand ‘boat people’ have arrived in Australia. How we deal with them when they get here continues to polarize public opinion. "Featuring Morteza, a 30-year-old, former ‘boat person’ who landed on Christmas Island after fleeing Iran and Jenni from Queensland who says they should not be allowed to stay in Australia."
581980
Operation Sovereign Borders


. On 19 June 2014, the Government announced that it had been six months since the last successful boat arrival. On 7 July 2014, a vessel containing 153 mostly Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka was intercepted by Australian authorities from Christmas Island. The government refused to confirm the existence, location, or status of the boat, until the High Court placed an injunction on any attempted refoulement of the vessel's passengers to Sri Lanka, while the full bench of the Court considered a challenge to the handover on the grounds that
1283356
Villawood Immigration Detention Centre


Villawood Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) is an Australian immigration detention facility located in the suburb of Villawood in Sydney, New South Wales in Australia. It mainly caters for people who have overstayed their visa permit or those who had their visa cancelled because they have failed to comply with their visa conditions, and some adult male and female asylum seekers who have arrived by boat without visas, whom the Australian government refer to as "Illegal Maritime Arrivals". Though, over the decades since the '50s, various Australian federal legislatures
6696559
Lucky Miles


Lucky Miles is a 2007 Australian drama feature film based on several true stories involving people entering Western Australia by boat in order to seek asylum (please note that seeking asylum is not and never has been illegal in Australia). Its director was Michael James Rowland and its producers were Jo Dyer and Lesley Dyer. An Indonesian fishing boat abandons a group of Iraqi and Cambodian men on a remote part of the Western Australian coast in 1990. Told there is a bus over the dunes, the men are abandoned to a desert the
1856267
Asylum in Australia


Refugees are governed by statutes and Government policies which seek to implement Australia's obligations under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, to which Australia is a party. Thousands of refugees have sought asylum in Australia over the past decade, with the main forces driving movement being war, civil unrest and persecution. The annual refugee quota is currently 20,000 people. From 1945 to the early 1990s, more than half a million refugees and other displaced persons were accepted into Australia. Historically, most asylum seekers arrived by plane. However
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2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt


beliefs. On 29 September 2016, five Turkish nationals, a couple and their child and two other men, arrived in Greece, at Alexandroupolis by crossing the Evros River by boat illegally and requested political asylum. On 12 December 2016, one female Turkish national, landed by boat, which was full with refugees and immigrants, illegally on the Greek island of Lesbos. She requested political asylum. On 24 October 2017, Turkish authorities obtained information that 995 Turks have applied for asylum in Greece after the coup attempt. More than
4130068
Manus Regional Processing Centre


boat without visas in these excised territories to seek asylum in Australia) were transferred to the OPC facilities where they would stay while their claims for asylum were processed. The centres were managed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The Manus Regional Processing Centre fell into disuse in preference to the Nauru centre. In July 2003, the immigration department announced that the centre would be wound down and the remaining detainees would be granted asylum and resettled in Australia, however the centre would continue to be maintained in case the need
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Nauru Regional Processing Centre


Abbott opposition. Current Coalition and Labor Party policy states that because all detainees attempted to reach Australia by boat, they will never be settled in Australia. Many detainees have since been returned to their countries of origin, including Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan and "unknown" destinations. Asylum-seekers found to be genuine refugees have been detained on the island since mid-2013. The highest population at the centre was 1,233 detainees in August 2014. In February 2019, the last four children (of an original 200
8865438
Ruddock v Vadarlis


prerogative power is included in section 61 of the Constitution of Australia, the section which vests the executive power of Australia in the Crown and the Governor-General of Australia as the Crown's representative. By convention, the executive functions of government in Australia are carried out from day to day by the Government of Australia. On 26 August 2001, the MV "Tampa" rescued 433 people, asylum seekers bound for Australia, and of mainly Afghani background, from their wooden fishing boat. The boat was sinking in international waters
22193378
Shanghai Ghetto


Russian community in Harbin, then the Russian community in Shanghai. Many in the Polish-Lithuanian Jewish community were saved by Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese consul in Kaunas, Lithuania. They managed to flee across the vast territory of Russia by train to Vladivostok and then by boat to Kobe in Japan. The refugees in number of 2,185 arrived in Japan from August 1940 to June 1941. Tadeusz Romer, the Polish ambassador in Tokyo, had managed to get transit visas in Japan, asylum visas to Canada, Australia, New Zealand
20566571
Abbott Government


most compassionate thing you can do is stop the boats. We have stopped the boats" and criticised the Commissioner for not investigating the issue under Labor, when hundreds of people were dying at sea and 2000 children were in detention. The detention figure had reduced to 211 under the Abbott Government. In June/July 2014, reports emerged that two boats, carrying presumed Sri Lankan asylum seekers, had been intercepted in the waters between Sri Lanka and Australia. On 7 July, the Immigration Minister confirmed to the High Court that
19592174
Eric William Wright


a boat for Australia. On arrival however, the last boat had been sunk, and when the island fell to the Japanese a few days later Wright and his pilots were made prisoners of war. After a period at Batavia repairing the airfield, Wright and his fellow prisoners were shipped to Japan and worked as farm labourers and in shipbuilding yards. After the war, he was granted a permanent commission as a flight lieutenant (but continued to be allowed to use his final wartime rank) on 19 December 1945. Wright was
17564986
White Australia policy


(SHP) for Iranians to seek refuge in Australia and by 1988 some 2500 Bahá'ís and many more others had arrived in Australia through either SHP or Refugee Programmes. The last selective immigration policy, offering relocation assistance to British nationals, was finally removed in 1982. Australia's contemporary immigration programme has two components: a programme for skilled and family migrants and a humanitarian programme for refugees and asylum seekers. By 2010, the post-war immigration programme had received more than 6.5 million migrants from every continent. The population tripled in
5682247
Asylum in Australia


wrong as a matter of principle". The policy was also highly criticised by human rights groups. The primary concern was that abuse of the process could potentially develop in remote locations, and that immigration control would dominate over child protection issues, children being without an effective guardian. In July 2005, Australia ceased the practice of mandatory detention of children. In 2002, the arrivals dropped from 5,516 the previous year to 1. From 2001 to 2007, fewer than 300 asylum seekers arrived. The program cost Australia more than AU$1
14891141
Asylum in Australia


centres has become out of reach for both buyers and renters. In the two largest cities of Sydney and Melbourne, housing availability is an additional strain for renters, with a competitive market leading to some perpetually searching for housing. The impact these general issues have on asylum seekers searching for housing open arrival into Australia is therefore significant and, at times, debilitating, leading to substantial possibility of homelessness throughout these communities. Asylum seekers in Australia are precluded from the ability to work until a determination is made on their refugee status.
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Asylum Seeker Resource Centre


in 2007/08, 97.3% of the 4750 asylum seeker applications submitted in Australia came from people who arrived by plane and now live in the Australian community. The ASRC publication "A Case For Justice:Position Paper on the Legal Process of Seeking Asylum in Australia" seeks to 'advocate, educate and work constructively towards better practices and processes in the refugee determination system. The numerous case examples are based on the real-life experiences of clients of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) Legal Program, and reflect the experiences
12332236
Border control


appearance. Even as Israeli authorities argue that racist, ethnic, and religious profiling are effective security measures, according to Boaz Ganor, Israel has not undertaken any known empirical studies on the efficacy of the technique of racial profiling. Beginning in 2001, Australia implemented border control policies featuring the detention of asylum seekers and economic migrants who arrived unlawfully by boat in nearby islands in the Pacific. These policies are controversial and in 2017 the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea declared the detention centre at Manus Island to be unconstitutional. The adherence
13091506
Asylum in Australia


Morrison, . Their "zero tolerance" policies included the use of boat turn-backs, offshore detention and processing and tight control of information about any arrivals by the government. In 2015, the government rejected suggestions that it would accept Rohingyas (a persecuted Muslim minority in Myanmar) during the Rohingya refugee crisis, with the Prime Minister responding "Nope, nope, nope. We have a very clear refugee and humanitarian program". However, later in the year the government unexpectedly increased its intake of refugees to accommodate persecuted
14891156
Abbott Government


and end people smuggling." On the day it was sworn in, the Abbott Government launched Operation Sovereign Borders, a joint agency task force designed to combat people smuggling. Deputy Chief of Army, Angus Campbell was appointed to lead the effort. The government instituted a policy of turning-back-boats where it was safe to do so, and sent arrivals to offshore processing centres. From January 2014, until the demise of the Abbott Government in September 2015, only one asylum vessel was reported to have reached Australia.
19592169
History of the Jews in Japan


Japan, risking his career and saving more than 6,000 lives. Sugihara is said to have cooperated with Polish intelligence, as part of a bigger Japanese-Polish cooperative plan. They managed to flee across the vast territory of Russia by train to Vladivostok and then by boat to Kobe in Japan. The refugees 2,185 in number arrived in Japan from August 1940 to June 1941. Tadeusz Romer, the Polish ambassador in Tokyo, had managed to get transit visas in Japan; asylum visas to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Burma
4464129
Alexander Downer


in 2001 in which Australia denied permission for the "MV Tampa" to dock at Christmas Island, having picked up a number of asylum seekers trying to get to Australia by boat. Downer also played a role in the subsequent negotiation of the "Pacific Solution" in which Australia held asylum seekers off-shore in foreign jurisdictions. In 2003, Downer was accused of not passing on intelligence reports he received before the 2002 Bali bombings. He countered that the warnings were not specific enough to warrant their further release to the Australian
17942135
Asylum in Australia


determined to be refugees and resettled in several countries. In December 2010, a boat carrying around 90 asylum seekers sank off the coast of Christmas Island, killing 48 people. Ahead of the 2010 election, Tony Abbott campaigned on the asylum issue, and with Rudd refusing to engage with him in "a race to the bottom", polls showed the public strongly favouring Abbott's anti-asylum views. By this time, Rudd was struggling in the polls for a number of reasons and had lost the confidence of the Labor
14891145
November 2009 Indian Ocean migrant boat disaster


The November 2009 Indian Ocean migrant boat disaster occurred in the early hours of Monday, 2 November 2009, when a boat carrying about forty Sri Lankan asylum seekers sank in the Indian Ocean at a distance of some north-west of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. According to the initial reports made the same day, more than 20 migrants were missing after 17 had been accounted for and/or saved by the RAAF and the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. The day after on 3 November 2009, one migrant was confirmed dead
21160798
Boat People SOS


of approximately 250,000 men, women, and children of all ages. Boats were being pushed back out to the seas, and those few survivors who reached shores were put into detention centers. In response to major shifts in US and international policies toward the Vietnamese boat people, they moved our headquarters to Northern Virginia to concentrate on advocacy. Rising to the new challenge of saving the last boat people, BPSOS sent lawyers to asylum countries through its Legal Assistance for Vietnamese Asylum Seekers (LAVAS) project and successfully advocated for policy changes
2718312
Refugees in New Zealand


found to be genuine refugees they will be granted residence, then they are technically able to access Social welfare in New Zealand and the same benefits provided by the state as any permanent resident. However, assistance that addresses their specific needs as they attempt to integrate into New Zealand is limited. Since Helen Clark welcomed refugees from the Tampa, New Zealand has been seen as a place where Australia might resettle asylum seekers who arrive by boat. This approach was formalised in an agreement between Julia Gillard and John Key in 2013 to allow
11774182
PNG solution


status is found to be non-genuine, they will be either repatriated, sent to a third country other than Australia or remain in detention indefinitely. The policy was announced on 19 July 2013 by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, effective immediately, in response to a growing number of asylum seeker boat arrivals. The then Opposition Leader Tony Abbott initially welcomed the policy, while Greens leader Christine Milne and several human rights advocate groups opposed it, with demonstrations protesting the policy held in every
16237064
Wedge issue


people will hear the message being pitched. A case study of the use of wedge issues in practice comes from the 2001 federal election campaign in Australia. In early and mid-2001, a great deal of public attention was focused on boat people (asylum seekers arriving on unauthorised vessels), there having been several widely publicised landings of hundreds of people. On August 24, 2001, a ship illegally bearing 460 such people became distressed, and its passengers were picked up by the Norwegian cargo vessel MV Tampa. The governing Liberal Party
20572906
PNG solution


arrivals by boat—from 5516 arrivals in 2001 to 1 arrival in 2002—but the conditions of the offshore processing centres, the lack of independent scrutiny, and the mental health impact on the occupants, attracted significant criticism and controversy. Upon Kevin Rudd's 2007 election win, the Pacific Solution was abandoned, with the Nauru processing centre closed down in February 2008, a move welcomed by the UN Refugee Agency. Since 2008, the number of asylum seeker arrivals by boat increased substantially—from 148 in 2007 to 6555 in 2010.
16237066
Greek–Turkish relations


, 2016, seven Turkish citizens were seeking asylum in Greece. A couple, both of whom are university professors, and their two children applied for asylum in Alexandroupoli after they illegally entered the country from the northeastern border. Also, three businessmen have illegally reached the Greek island of Rhodes, and they also applied for asylum. On August 30, 2016, a Turkish judge arrived to the Greek island of Chios on a migrant boat and sought asylum in the country. He told the Greek coast guard and police officers that he
21720726
Asylum in Australia


"in situ", and then to distribute them in an orderly way. During the early 1990s, asylum seekers from Cambodia began to arrive in Australia. In response, the Keating Government instituted a mandatory detention policy aimed at deterring refugees. Under mandatory detention, anyone who enters the Australian migration zone without a visa is placed in a holding facility while security and health checks are performed. Additionally, the validity of the person's claim to asylum is assessed by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. In 1990, a number
14891134
Ashmore and Cartier Islands


issue in Australia. The Australian Government argued that as Australia was not the country of first asylum for these "boat people", Australia did not have a responsibility to accept them. A number of things were done to discourage the use of the Territory for this purpose, such as attempting to have the people smugglers arrested in Indonesia; the so-called Pacific Solution of processing them in third countries; the boarding and forced turnaround of the boats by Australian military forces; and finally excising the Territory and many other small islands
1252030